Skies Are Blue
by Kyizi
Summary: When Lorelai inadvertently befriends Tristan, Rory's life becomes infinitely more complicated. Set at the end of the summer following the Season One finale. [Trory]
1. Pinky, Meet Brain

**Skies Are Blue**

**By Kyizi**

**Disclaimer:** Gilmore Girls and all related items do not belong to me. Only the Story and its related original ideas and characters are mine. No copyright infringement intended.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Spoilers:** Season One. This takes place at the end of the summer after the season one finale.

**Distribution:** Please ask, the answer will likely be yes.

**Feedback:** is a gift. It's nice to give.

**Notes:** This is my first attempt at Gilmore Girls. I realise I have a ton of fics to be working on and the last thing I needed was to start another one. However, as is normal with me when I enter a new fandom to read, my muses attacked me and wouldn't let me alone until I had written this.

My wonderful beta, DanaMulder, assures me it's in character, so I hope you all enjoy. Cassie you rock!

xxxxx

**Part One: Pinky, meet Brain**

xxxxx

Lorelai tilted her head back and downed the rest of her glass. Champaign and lots of it; that was her plan for the evening. Oh, they could force her into society again with an act of bribery, but they couldn't stop her drinking herself into a Bridget Jones-esque stupor of alcohol and the subsequent eating by Alsatians. Things were bleak, but the bottom of each glass was her goal and she was nothing if not determined; the bottom of each would be seen. She downed another glass.

"Care to share?"

She turned to the young boy beside her and smirked. "Aha! I knew there was another sensible person in this room. Alcoholism is the only way to survive these functions and don't you forget it."

The boy grinned at her. "Does that mean you're sharing?"

She shook her head, feeling a silly grin work around her mouth. "Sorry, but the goal is to get drunk, not arrested."

He shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"Indeed, but I have no need for a Drive Me Crazy moment."

He winced. "That was a bad movie."

"Yes, but it was enlightening to see Sabrina away from the crazy aunts."

"Wasn't the same without the cat."

"Yes, Salem was sorely missed." Lorelai lifted another two glasses of champagne from a tray as another waiter passed by and quickly downed the first.

The boy raised his eyebrows, but the ever present smirk did not disappear. "I see we have a champion in our midst," he said cheekily.

"You better believe it. I am the Matthew Webb of champagne drinking."

He frowned. "The English Channel guy?"

Lorelai grinned. "Ooh, well done, you get brownie points for that one."

He chuckled again, shaking his head. He looked at her for a moment and Lorelai was convinced he saw realisation on his face, but, before she could question him, she spotted her mother heading straight for her. Not for the first time, she damned Rory for using the excuse of her (second) two-month anniversary with Dean to get out of the event.

"Run," she muttered to the boy, downing the other glass of champagne. "Run, run, while you still can."

He frowned. "Wha-"

"Lorelai."

"Oh, so close." She gave him a look that clearly said 'bad luck' before turning meeting her mother's gaze. "Hey, Mom."

"Lorelai, where have you been? I have been looking all over for you."

"Clearly you haven't been looking all over or you would have found me."

"Lorelai," Emily said with a disapproving frown. "We have company, it wouldn't kill you to use some manners."

"See, that's where you're wrong. I suffer from a rare disease called manner-itus and whenever I try to be nice to your guests, I get this ticking inside my head. It's like an explosion waiting to happen. One minute I'd be happily chatting away to Mrs. isn't-the-weather-lovely-this-time-of-year and the next minute my head would explode. The mess would be catastrophic and, while it could be considered art to those odd people with the bongos, you'd have to call in a weird, eccentric, French interior decorator, called Fabio, to refurbish the whole house."

"Really, Lorelai." Emily looked as though she were about to berate her daughter further when she finally noticed the boy standing next to them, smothering a smile. "There you are," she said, shaking her head. "Your parents have been looking for you, young man."

"They have?"

"Yes, they left about ten minutes ago."

Lorelai frowned, but noticed no flicker in the boy's facial expression; it was set into a mask of pleasantries that she remembered well. "They left?" she questioned her mother.

"It seemed natural to assume that he had left with some friends," Emily said, as though she were stating the obvious.

"It's a big house, Mom, they didn't think to look?" She knew she shouldn't be having the conversation, especially with her mother, and most especially in front of the boy himself, but she couldn't help herself; she rarely could.

"Really, Lorelai, with the amount of times you pulled the same trick at his age, surely you can understand-"

"Oh, here we go," she muttered. "I'll tell you what," Lorelai continued, interrupting her mother before she could really get going, "I'll drive him home. I need to get back to the house anyway; I have an early start at the Inn tomorrow morning."

Emily frowned, looking for all the world as though she was about to object, but eventually sighed. "Fine. I'll see you on Friday evening. Seven o'clock."

"Gee, I'm glad you remind me of the time every week, there's no telling when the information might slip out my ear and drown in a puddle."

"Go home, Lorelai."

"Good night, Mom."

She let out a grunt of frustration as soon as her mother was out of ear shot. It didn't matter what was going on in the world, if there was one thing Lorelai could count on in this world, it was that her mother would always find something about her life to criticise.

Lorelai took a moment to study the boy beside her. He looked rather uncertain, standing innocently before her, his hands jammed into the pockets of his suit jacket. He had blond hair, blue eyes and, Lorelai had no problem in admitting it, he was a Greek God. It almost made her wish she was sixteen again. Almost.

He cleared his throat. "You, eh, you really don't have to give me a ride home. I can call a cab."

"Oh, no you're not getting out of this. You are my excuse to leave this party."

He smirked. "That's a fair trade, however, and not to be rude or anything since you're my way home, but you have been consuming champagne at a rather alarming rate."

"Worried I'll swerve into a tree and smash up that pretty boy face of yours?"

"Not to put to fine a point on it, but yeah, a little."

She grinned. "Fear not, Greek Boy, I have a plan."

"Greek Boy?"

"Question me not, Greek boy, or no plan."

"Okay," he smirked. "Do I get to know what the plan is?"

"I don't know," she whispered conspiratorially, leaning forward. "Do you know the secret handshake?"

"I will if you show it to me."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay, it goes like this." She grasped his hand and proceeded to make up an elaborate series of movements. She made him repeat it three times. "Got it?"

He nodded seriously. "Yes."

"Okay, now, here's the clincher. You help me sneak out of this house without another run in with my mother and you are a lifetime member of the club."

He nodded. "I think that can be arranged." He surreptitiously glanced around the room as Lorelai started humming the Mission Impossible theme. "Okay," he turned back to face her, whispering once more. "She is currently chatting with Mrs. Lindlay; her conversation began about a minute ago and, if she's being told the story about Fifi's trip to the doctor-"

"Fifi?"

"Her _baby_. One of those yappy little poodles."

"Scary." Lorelai frowned. "She took it to the _doctor_?"

"Apparently vets are too impersonal and treat him like an animal."

"Of course."

"Of course."

"Right, so the story about Fifi," she prompted and he continued.

"Right. Said story should take approximately five minutes to complete, assuming of course, that she includes Barnoby's ill fated-"

"Barnoby would be the llama?"

"Persian cat."

"Of course, although, wouldn't a llama be cool?" she grinned and he looked at her oddly. She shook her head. "Continue."

"Well, if she includes Barnoby's ill fated attempts strip the willow, then-"

"Strip the willow?"

"Cat. Fire. 911. You don't want to know."

"Ouch."

"Then we should have," he looked at his watch, "approximately three point five minutes to make a run for it."

"Sounds good to me, Mr Hunt."

"Always preferred 007, personally."

"There's a surprise. Connery or Moore?"

"Connery _is_ Bond, Moore was a sleaze, but Dalton was actually my favourite."

"Ah, the underestimated Bond who was given the crappy attempts at being PC. An unusual, but acceptable answer, although Brosnan I would have also allowed."

"Of course." He glanced at his watch. "Two minutes left. Think we can make it?"

Lorelai grinned. "I'll race ya!"

She took off for the door with him in hot pursuit, making a quick stop to pick up their jackets on the way, before bursting outside to freedom. Lorelai held out her arms, looked to thy sky and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Ah, freedom!" She heard him chuckle behind her and turned around. "I guess it's time for me to put the plan into action."

"I guess so."

She pulled her mobile phone from her purse and hit speed dial 2, before holding it to her ear. Hearing the gruff hello as he picked up made her smile widen.

"Lu-uke!"

"No."

"Luke, please?"

"No. It's only nine o'clock. You said you wouldn't call before ten thirty. The diner is open and it's not ten thirty."

"Luke."

"No."

"Luke, please?"

There was a pause and Lorelai allowed herself a small victory dance.

"I hate you."

"Thank you, Luke. Ooh, and bring two coffees with you." She hung up before he could reply and turned to the boy once more. "Okay, 007, grace me with a name. As partners in crime we need to come up with a catchy duo; like Starsky and Hutch, or Thelma and Louise, or Wren and Stimpy, or, ooh, Pinky and the Brain."

"I'll be the Brain."

"Nice try, kid, but I'm the oldest I get to choose. Besides, I think that one's already taken."

"You were the one that suggested it."

"But I'm the adult; I retain the right to be hypocritical."

"Ah, playing the grown up card."

"Yes, I am," she said with a superior tone. "Now, name, before I dub you Greek Boy forever."

"What happened to 007?"

"Again, already taken. Come on, Greek Boy, time is running out."

"Okay, but you're not going to like it, Ms Gilmore."

"Who says, and how do you know my name?

He grinned. "You mean besides the fact that the woman you called 'mom' was the owner of the house; the Gilmore House?"

"Yeah, well, I might be married."

"But you're not," he said with a smile, continuing before she could interrupt. "I go to Chilton with Rory. There's no mistaking the resemblance and I don't just mean physically. It's easy to see where she gets her quirkiness."

"Ah, diplomatic, as well as good looking, I see. So, you go to Chilton?" She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Of course you go to Chilton. Why else would you be stuck at one of these parties?" She extended her hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, I'm Lorelai Gilmore."

He clasped her hand and shook it, all the while, grinning smugly. "It's nice to meet you Ms Gilmore. The name's DuGrey, Tristan DuGrey."

"Well, hello, Tri..." Her eyes widened a little. "Tristan? You're Tristan DuGrey?"

"Indeed."

"Tristan, the Evil? Tristan, the Spawn of Satan, Tristan?"

"I appreciate the flattery, Ms Gilmore."

"It's Lorelai and, oh, God, Rory is going to kill me."

He smirked. "I tried to warn you."

"But not before I kill her," Lorelai continued.

"Why?"

"Let's just say she left out a few details."

He frowned at her, but wasn't given the change to enquire when she hit his arm. He cried out in indignation. "What was that for?"

"For making my daughter's life at Chilton Hell on earth."

He frowned. "I don't think I can be given that much credit, Chilton itself is enough to set those eternal fires of damnation without my help."

"You, Bible Boy, have-"

"Bible Boy? I think I prefer Greek Boy. It sounds racier."

She glared at him. "Wipe that smug look of your face, Mister, I'm trying to have a serious conversation here."

"Sorry," he muttered. She could tell he was uncomfortable with where she was about to take the conversation, but she had sensed an affinity with the boy and, given that his parents had just left him behind at a party with no way to get home, she had an idea where his attitude stemmed from.

"You're a nice guy, Tristan. You can keep up with me in a conversation, which, believe me, is an art form few people have ever managed to perfect, and you have a life I understand; I grew up in the same one. I want to like you, but you make my baby's life worse by being an arrogant jerk."

Tristan nodded. "Yeah, I know I didn't exactly go about things the right way with Rory-"

"Well, duh."

"-but," he continued, waiting for her to listen to him, "she likely wouldn't give me the time of day otherwise." His eyes widened as he realised exactly what he had said and he attempted to backtrack. Lorelai found it rather amusing. "I mean, she's always stuck in her books and if she doesn't want a friend, then there's no point in-"

"Okay, calm down, Tristan, don't give yourself a hernia."

He sighed. "Look, I won't be bugging Rory when we go back on Monday, or ever again, okay? She hates me and, before you say it, I know that's my own fault, but I get that. I promise to leave her alone."

Lorelai frowned. "Or you could promise to be nice and be her friend."

"She wouldn't want me to, believe me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath. She knew he was probably mentally kicking himself for having given away so much, but she got the feeling that there were few people he could really talk to.

"You really like her, don't you?" His head jerked up so fast Lorelai almost checked him for whiplash. "You really suck at showing that, you know."

He laughed humourlessly. "Yeah, because I've had a lot of practice."

"From what I hear, you _have_ had a lot of practice."

He glared. "That's not what I meant. Those girls are just...I mean they're..." he grunted in frustration.

"They're not the same, I get it. It's not easy to suddenly have something denied to you when you're used to getting what you want, is it?" He shrugged and she sensed he was closing off. "Look, Tristan, Rory doesn't particularly like you-" he laughed, "but there's something inside her that stops her from ever hating anyone. That gives you a chance. I may be biased, but I think it's safe to say that she's one of a kind."

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Just, try to talk to her." She grinned at him. "Hey, you've managed almost half an hour or so with me and you're still alive. Rory's just a mini me, she should be a pushover and, no, I do not mean that literally. Enough with the playground antics."

He smirked cheekily. "But it's so much fun."

"Watch out, or I'll make you sit in the corner wearing the 'dunce' hat."

"Somehow, I wouldn't put that past you."

She nodded sagely. "The boy is learning." Tristan laughed and Lorelai couldn't help thinking how well he and Rory would actually get along if they could get out of the trading insults routine they had fallen into.

She heard Luke's truck pulling into the driveway behind her and turned, waving frantically at Luke as he pulled up beside them. She opened the front door and indicated for Tristan to get in the back. The moment the door was closed, she turned to Luke.

"Coffee." He scowled, but she shook her head. "Not going to work, I can smell it. I need coffee and so does Tristan."

"Bible Boy, Tristan?" Luke asked, throwing a glare at the boy through the rear-view mirror.

"My reputation precedes me, I see."

"It does." Lorelai nodded. "Luke. Coffee."

Luke sighed and reached into the bag at Lorelai's feet, handing her a thermos. He pulled out another one and turned around to glare at Tristan face to face this time. "This one for you?"

"Down, boy," Lorelai said, after savouring her first sip. She turned to face Tristan, who was actually looking a little scared of Luke, given that he had shut the door and was, hence, trapped. She smothered a laugh. "You like coffee?" He nodded. She turned to Luke. "Okay, he passed the test. He's one of us. He's now an honorary Gilmore. Coffee is the nectar of the Gods, he cannot truly be evil."

"Tell that to Rory," Luke muttered, almost throwing the thermos at Tristan. "Where am I taking him?" He asked, turning back around and lifting the hand break.

"You okay to direct us?" Lorelai asked, turning her head a little.

"Sure."

It took less than twenty minutes to reach the DuGrey Estate and Lorelai couldn't help but let out a whistle as they pulled up to the front door. "Wow, and I thought Chilton was very 'off with their heads', but it's got nothin' on this place."

"You should see the inside," Tristan muttered. "Well." He cleared his throat. "Thank you for the company Ms Gilmore and, thank you for the ride," he said to Luke as he opened the door.

"I told you, it's Lorelai, and slow down, we're coming with you."

"We?" Luke shook his head. "No, there is no 'we'."

"Luke," she whined, "you heard him, the outside is nothing to the inside and you're just going to let me walk in there alone? What if I come out without a head?"

"Then I'll no longer have to listen to you screaming for coffee."

"It's all right, Lorelai," Tristan said, smiling at the behaviour of the two adults. "I live here. I'm a big boy and I'll be okay going into my own house."

"See, he'll be fine."

"Luke, we are going to speak with his parents."

"No, you really don't have to. It's-"

"Hey," she said turning around. "I'm getting enough arguing from him, can you at least pretend to be on my side, Judas?"

"Judas?" he asked with a smile. "Ouch."

She shrugged and turned back to glare at Luke. "Now, both of you, out."

Luke grumbled, but by the time Lorelai had reached the other side of the car, had complied. Together they walked towards the front door.

"Wow," Lorelai said in a whisper. "I feel like William Wallace at the end of Brave heart, walking to my execution. Only I'm not Scottish. Or a man."

"Can we just get this over with, please?"

"Luke, be nice. When they answer the door, just let me do all the talking."

"If you're doing all the talking, then why did I have to get out of the car?"

"For moral support. You're like the guy with the fliers and buttons that stands behind a Presidential Candidate. You're not meant to say anything, but I know you're there."

"Whatever, just ring the damn bell."

Tristan smirked. "I live here, you know. I don't think we need to ring the bell."

"Oh, but I wanted to see if it played one of those tacky tunes," Lorelai whined.

"Sorry. I tried to key in the theme to the A-Team when I was ten, but it didn't work. It's just a regular old bell."

"Well, that's no fun." She grabbed a hold of Luke's arm and pulled him after her as she followed Tristan into the large house, subconsciously humming the theme to the A-Team. Trusting that Rory's tormentor would forgo taking them to the torture chamber, she walked quietly behind him, trying not to notice that the house was even more sterile than the one she had grown up in.

As they approached what she assumed was the main sitting room, she noticed that Tristan was beginning to tense and sped up a little so that she was walking beside him. He didn't acknowledge her presence, but she noted his shoulders relax a little. He knocked quickly and opened the door they had just arrived in front of.

Lorelai followed him in, making sure that they hadn't lost Luke, before turning to survey the scene. The room was lit only by the blazing fire and there was one occupant. It appeared to be Tristan's father. Tristan cleared his throat and Lorelai stepped forward as the boy's father stood up.

"Mr DuGrey, my name is Lorelai Gilmore." She extended her hand and, after a moment of looking at her curiously, he shook it. "I wanted to apologise, I managed to monopolise Tristan at the party this evening and caused you to misplace him."

She fought to keep a smile on her face and the situation light, but she really wanted to shout at him. How anyone could 'misplace' their own child when said child was sixteen years old and in the same house, regardless of its size, angered her.

"I see."

"I'm sorry, but when I found out that Tristan attended Chilton with my daughter, I insisted he keep me company."

Mr DuGrey nodded and smiled at Lorelai, albeit somewhat forced. "That's quite all right, Mrs Gilmore. Thank you for bringing him home. I'm sorry for putting you and your husband out of your way."

"Oh," Luke said haltingly, "I'm not-"

"That's quite all right, Mr DuGrey, and please, call me Lorelai." Mr DuGrey nodded and she continued. "I was actually wondering if it would be all right to steal your son this weekend," she asked, instantly kicking herself for not thinking it through. Rory was going to kill her.

"May I ask why?"

She smiled. "Our town has a love of festivities and this weekend is the annual End of Summer Festival. I thought it might be nice to have Tristan over; Rory rarely gets to see her school mates away from Chilton." She didn't add that her daughter had no wish to see them either.

"I don't see that causing us any problems. My wife and I were planning a trip out of state this weekend anyway. It would be a weight of our minds to know that Tristan was being cared for."

"Really, that's great." If Mr DuGrey noticed the sarcasm in her voice, he did not acknowledge it. "Well," she said, turning to a rather stunned looking Tristan. "If you want to get the bus with Rory on Friday after school, we'll see you then. Bring enough stuff for the weekend and come prepared for anything."

He smirked. "Sure, no problem," he said, walking them back to the door. "But do you mind if I just drive us to Stars Hollow? It would make things a lot easier."

"And, let me guess," Lorelai added, "you hate public transport." He shrugged and glanced behind him, noting that his father had remained in the other room. "Sure, I'll let Rory know. See you on Friday, Brain."

"Yes, you will, Pinky."

"Am I meant to understand what the heck you guys are talking about?"

Lorelai laughed and pushed Luke out the door. "See you Friday."

"Sure." He seemed to hesitate and she frowned questioningly. "You sure Rory won't freak out?"

"Oh, I'm sure she will. However, I have my ways."

Tristan shook his head and bid them good night. Lorelai climbed back into Luke's truck and smiled at him. "Home Jeeves."

"Rory's going to kill you," he said, starting the engine.

She grimaced. "Don't I know it."

xxxxx

There was a click as the door closed and Lorelai flicked off the volume on the TV. She turned to greet Rory as she entered the room, a subdued look on her face.

"Uh, oh, that's not the look of a happy two month anniversary. Tell me I don't have to kill Dean."

"No, everything's fine, Mom." Rory smiled and sat next to her mother, leaning into an embrace.

"Then, what's with the face?"

"What? This is my face. I've had it for sixteen years, you never complained before."

"Well, that's because I keep getting told it looks like mine and I think you know what I meant. Spill."

Rory sighed. "I don't know. Everything was great and all, I just...I don't know."

"It's not the same?" Lorelai asked, looking at the top of her daughter's head.

"No, it's not. I mean, I knew things wouldn't ever be _exactly_ the same this time round, but, well, he's just trying so hard." She sat up and looked at Lorelai. "He's trying too hard. I know he's trying to make everything perfect, but everything's not meant to be perfect, right? I mean you and Max argue and it's normal and healthy, but Dean won't even fight about pizza toppings anymore."

"What's the fun in that?"

"I know!" Rory sighed. "I just want it to be normal."

"Oh, honey," she pulled Rory into a hug. "Things will work out with Dean. If they're meant to work out, they'll work out in their own time."

"Thanks, Mom. Did you have a good night, or should I not ask?"

"Oh, it was...interesting."

"Okay, tell me about it tomorrow?" Lorelai nodded and Rory kissed her cheek and stood up. "I'm going to go to bed. I still have some work to do before school on Monday. I want to reread my English notes."

"You're a weird kid."

"Thank you."

"Welcome." Lorelai watched her walk away and, biting her lip, decided to just tell her about Tristan. "Rory, sweetie, fruit of my loins, light of my life, oh, favourite daughter mine."

"What?" Rory asked warily, turning around.

"Honey, you love me, right?"

"I get the distinct feeling that I'm not going to like this."

"Well, you might. It's actually kinda funny."

"Somehow, I doubt it." Rory made her way back to the couch and sat next to her mother again. "Spill."

"Right, so I'm at the party; downing champagne and trying to avoid my mother all night when I'm distracted by an interesting boy."

"Boy? This isn't going to end up with you being arrested and charged, right?"

"No, but if I was sixteen years younger, I would definitely-"

"Continue, please."

"Okay, so this guy can follow my conversation, he banters with the best of them and the rest of what I was going to say was really interesting but you keep looking at me like that and I should just tell you that Tristan DuGrey is spending the weekend with us are you mad?"

Rory paused for a moment before smiling. "That's a good one. You almost had me there." She continued to look at her mother. "See you're not smiling yet and that's a little worrying because I know you wouldn't do that to me, because you love me and would never want to trap me in my own house with Tristan DuGrey." Lorelai remained still. "No."

"Rory, I can explain, I-"

"No." She stood up and started pacing. "Tristan hates me and I hate him. You know that and you wouldn't do this to me."

"Honey, he's a nice boy, sarcastic, smug and irritating, but nice. A nice boy that you failed to mention looked like a Greek God."

"Mom!"

"What?" Lorelai settled further into the couch. "How could you withhold on me like that?"

"It wasn't important."

"Blasphemy! Have I taught you nothing?"

"Mom, he's an arrogant, irritating, obnoxious-"

"-witty, charming, gorgeous boy who happens to be crazy about you."

"You're cracked."

Lorelai sighed. "Rory, sit." After a moment, she complied and joined her mother on the couch once more. "Just listen to me for a minute, okay?" Rory nodded. "Okay. Look, I'm not going to make excuses for him, he was awful to you from the day you met, but you do not hate him." Before Rory could interrupt, she continued. "Sweetie, he bugs you, that's not hate. If it was hate, you wouldn't care about him and I know you do because you're my Rory and you care about everyone.

"Honey, I grew up in that world and I know what it's like to be alone. I rebelled in my own way; Tristan's just leading the only life he knows how to lead in the only way he know how to. That doesn't mean that you can't find out who he really is and grow to like him."

"Mom, I know I don't hate him, okay, I know that, but...he's just so...I mean, he just..."

"I know."

Rory sighed and leaned back next to her mother. "Is he staying here?"

"Yeah, his parents are disappearing somewhere for the weekend. I thought we could set up the camp bed."

"We have a camp bed?" Rory asked.

"You remember! From the park. The day you left kindergarten?"

"Oh, yeah!" She frowned. "We still have that thing?" she asked incredulously. "I thought we sold it at the junk sale."

"We did. I bought it back at the garage sale for fifty cents."

"Bargain."

"I know." Lorelai smiled. "So, you're not mad at me?"

"Oh, I'm mad at you, I just don't have the energy to argue."

"Okay."

They remained in silence for a moment before Rory gasped and sat up straight. "Oh, my God."

"What? What?"

"What am I going to tell Dean?"

xxxxx

**End of Chapter One: Pinky, Meet Brain**

xxxxx


	2. Where's Waldo?

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my…wow! Okay, I seriously don't know what to say about the response to this fic other than 'I love you all!' I think this is the best response a first chapter of mine has ever received. I'm so chuffed. I guess this means the pressure is on to keep it good, huh? Keep up the reviewing!

**Notes:** Sorry about the delay with this chapter, I posted chapter one right before I went home for my college graduation for the weekend and then I returned to an obscene amount of university work and a job hunt.

I was originally writing from Tristan's POV and staring on the first Monday of school, but I decided to hold that off till chapter three and focus a little on Rory.

Hope you enjoy!

xxxxx

**Chapter Two: Where's Waldo?**

xxxxx

Rory smirked as she continued to creep up the stairs. Having awoken early with remnants of a nightmare, she had been up for at least an hour; the echoes of being chased by a psychotic killer in a clown mask, who turned out to be Tristan, was still running through her mind. She reached the outside of her mother's door and grinned to herself. She may have to go along with her mother's invitation, but she didn't have to like it. She threw the door open, entered the room, and pulled back the curtains, washing the room with the bright morning light and went to her mother's bed, pulling back the sheets.

"Rise and shine!"

"Oh, God, it's the end of the world." Lorelai shot up in her bed, her face scrunched up at the light. "Am I dead?"

"Nope, but there's always a possibility that Tristan could kill you next weekend. I have a theory that he's actually _It_."

"You're an evil child. I'm taking you back to where you came from, but it doesn't open till noon, go back to sleep." She flopped back onto the bed and pulled the pillow over her face.

"Mom, get up."

"I thought you said Dean didn't dump you," Lorelai mumbled from under her pillow.

"He didn't."

"Then go away!"

"We have lots of stuff to do today and you can't do it from here." Rory smiled as she pulled the covers away and onto the floor.

"Ah! Devil child!"

"Now, I'm going downstairs, I expect to see you in five minutes."

Rory bounced out of the room, still smiling and headed downstairs. She busied herself making coffee until Lorelai entered the kitchen a while later, glaring at her. Throwing herself onto a chair with a pained grunt, her mother accepted the mug she was handed.

"Coffee," she said with a contented sigh. "You can have my firstborn."

"I am your first born."

"And I gave you life through hours of excruciating pain. My debt has been paid."

"You're insane."

"That's because it's _seven o'clock on a Saturday morning!_" Lorelai pouted. "This is payback for inviting Tristan over, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you mean," Rory said with a smile, sitting down and taking a slow sip of her coffee.

"Liar."

"Well, I just figured that, since it was your idea, you should come with me to verify my story when I tell Dean." Lorelai raised an eyebrow and Rory's hopeful smile faded a little.

"I know I suck, but I'm not convinced I want to play referee between you two."

"It wouldn't be a referee, more like a support band."

"Do I get to sing?"

"No."

"Well, that's no fun."

"We can go to Luke's and get coffee."

"Or," her mother smiled, "we could go back to bed and do this later."

"No, we can't, because Dean has to go with his parents to visit an aunt this weekend and they leave at ten am."

"What kind of person drags their kids out of bed at that hour of the morning on a weekend?"

"I don't know," Rory said, leaning her elbows on the table. "What sort of person won't let their kid sleep because there are reruns of _Lassie_ on until three am and said kid has to go to a very prestigious school early the next morning?"

"Ooh, me!" Lorelai grinned impishly. "Those were good episodes and, hey, I didn't make you stay up to watch _The Waltons_ afterwards."

"Not even my love for Ben and Jerry could have made that happen."

"You used to have a crush on John Boy when you were little."

"Mom."

"No, it was so cute." Lorelai bounced in her chair. "You used to dance around the kitchen humming the theme song and then when you went to bed you used to whisper, 'G'night, John Boy,' and then when he didn't answer, I'd simply say…Baby, o-o-oh, baby-"

"Patrick Swayze moment?"

"Just give me a minute." She sighed. "Okay, where was I? Ooh, John Boy, and I'd say, 'G'night, Rory' and then-"

"And then you'd laugh and torture me with this information for the rest of my life, I get it. Now, can we please go?"

"But, Rory, it's seven am!"

"No, it was seven am when I woke you up; it's now seven forty five because you took so long to get dressed."

"I couldn't find matching socks."

"What did you decide on?"

"Well, my left foot is dressed in a very elegant white Catholic schoolgirl sock, complete with ruffle-"

"Where did you get that?"

"Gee, who on this earth could possibly be obsessed with the idea of me renouncing my slutty ways and-"

"Grandma, of course, and the right?"

"The right foot is decidedly happy about reverting to the swinging sixties in this typical example of pink and yellow polka-dots."

"It's a statement." Rory nodded.

"Yup, it says 'look at me, I am a fashion guru. I am innocent and elegant, yet wild and zany'."

"Those are some well spoken socks."

"Indeed."

"Can we go?"

Lorelai frowned. "Do I have a choice?"

Without answering her mother, Rory grabbed her arm and dragged her to the door, picking up the house keys as she went. There was no way she was missing Dean this morning. She had made a promise to herself not to leave informing him about Tristan until the last moment, because, besides the fact that it would likely get harder the longer she left it, Dean was going to be angry enough as it was.

They walked briskly into the town and, on instinct, headed straight for Luke's. Rory chose a seat by the window dragging her mother with her.

"Did someone die?"

"Not yet. Final requests for coffee must be allowed before I have her killed. No one should suffer death without one final taste of the elixir of life."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Good morning, Luke."

Lorelai tugged his arm. "Coffee."

"There's no coffee."

Rory shook her head. "'Out of tune, sir; ye lie'!"

"See, I sent her to smart schools so she could quote Shakespeare and call you a 'big fat liar' in an intelligent way."

"Quoting _Twelfth Night_ is not a guarantee for coffee." He frowned. "What?"

"Luke, how did you know that was _Twelfth Night_?" Rory asked with a smile.

"Yeah, somehow I don't peg you for a closet Shakespeare fanatic."

Rory hadn't thought it was possible for Luke's jaw to ever look tenser than it usually did. She was quickly proven wrong.

"Luke's been holding out on us!" Lorelai exclaimed gleefully. "Ooh, ooh, do Romeo!"

"I'll get your coffee."

He walked away quickly as Rory and Lorelai began to giggle. "Oh, my, goodness. Our grumpy diner guy can quote my man, Will."

"I thought we decided I could keep Will. You wanted Colin Firth and Rupert Everett."

"Ooh, 'Mr Darcy'. Okay, you can have Shakespeare."

"Thank you."

"But I get to borrow him on special occasions."

Rory frowned. "Okay, this conversation has taken a decidedly icky turn."

"You don't want to share your men with me?" Lorelai pouted before smiling at the look on Rory's face. She then scrunched up her nose. "You know what, that is a little creepy."

"Thank you."

"Here." Luke placed the mugs in front of them and poured the coffee before quickly turning and leaving the table.

"What, that's it this morning?" Lorelai shouted after him as she finished her first long gulp.

"I have customers."

"Really, is that what all these people are?"

When Luke ignored her in favour of Kirk, Lorelai turned to Rory with a pout. "He chose Kirk over me."

"Oh, that's okay; you have 'Mr Darcy'."

"I can live with that."

They chatted aimlessly as their cups began to empty, and refill, but Rory's attention kept wandering out the window. "- so, anyway, I decided that it really was a good career choice and I hope you don't mind that I had to sell you to a small Spaniard in order to pay for it, but I really think you'll like being chained to his bed in Spain just as much as I'll love my new life as a pogo dancer. What do you think?"

"Sure."

"Good, I'm glad. I'll just call your new husband then. I almost sold you to Tristan actually, but-"

"What about Tristan?" Rory asked with a frown, turning to face her mother.

"Okay, so I sell you to a creepy old Spanish guy and run off to be a pogo dancer and you say 'sure', I just mention Tristan's _name_ and the accusations start."

"It wasn't an accusation, it was a question."

"But you asked it accusingly and, therefore, my statement stands."

"Okay, but what about Tristan?"

"He just outbid your new Spanish beau and you have to live in his house like a Stepford Wife for the remainder of your days."

"You're sick."

"You've been ignoring my wonderful conversation for over an hour; you didn't even notice when Luke filled up out mugs the last time - without being asked, I might add. We're turning him. You didn't even notice the extra coffee and I'm sick?"

"I'm sorry, I just…Ugh, where is he?" Rory grunted.

"Waldo?"

"Dean."

"Bummer." Lorelai shrugged at her look. "What? I knew that one."

"What one?"

"The one in the marketplace; he was behind the guy with the weird green hat."

Rory frowned. "Wasn't it the orange shirt lady?"

"No, that was the one in the mall, remember? He was hiding behind her and the strange, evil woman with the dog."

"How was she evil?"

"She was standing right next to a coffee stand and not a cup in sight."

"Of course. Evil she was."

"But not Waldo?"

"No, Dean."

"So, call me crazy-"

"I often do."

Lorelai stuck out her tongue. "Call me crazy, but surely it would make more sense for you to just go to Dean's house and talk to him there."

"I don't want to do it in front of his family. I figure that they'll go by Dosee's before they leave and, given that Dean works there, it would be logical that they send him. He knows where everything is." Lorelai frowned. "What, you don't think they will?"

"Aren't his family, like, super organised?"

"Exactly, so they'll want to go to the store before they leave."

"Yes, I see your logic, I'm just wondering if, perhaps, their super organisational skills might have led them to the market yesterday."

Rory's eyes widened. "No. No, no, no, no!" She stood up quickly, almost knocking over the chair. "What time is it?"

"It's nine thirty three."

"Oh, no. What if they leave early?"

"Then standing here is not helping you!" Lorelai waved her towards the door. "Shoo!"

Rory nodded and then took off out of the diner. She ran quickly to Dean's house and up the path, banging on the door a few times.

"No, no, no. You can't have left yet, you can't."

She glanced onto the street and her heart sank as she realised that their car was not parked in the usual spot. With one final glare at the door, she walked slowly back to Luke's, wondering how she had managed to get herself into the mess in the first place. Her first instinct was to blame her mother, and it was partly right, but she had known Dean was leaving in the morning. She should have called him the moment she had found out, but somehow, Dean hadn't the boy on her mind the previous night.

She opened the door to Luke's and rejoined her mother at the table. She sat down with a sigh, picking up her, once again full, cup of coffee.

"That's not a happy face. You didn't catch them."

"No."

"Then I guess now is a really bad time to tell you that, right after you left, they pulled up outside Dosee's and Dean went in for some stuff before they left."

"What?"

Lorelai smiled hopefully. "You get to say, 'I told you so'."

"That's nice, especially when what I wanted to say was 'Oh, by the way, Dean, my mom invited a friend over this weekend. Yeah, you've met him. It's Tristan. Yeah, the guy you really hate.' And that I wanted to say it to him, not you."

"You think of Tristan as a friend?"

"What? No."

Lorelai smirked. "You said friend."

"Well, I have little choice in the matter. My crazy mother signed me up for 'befriend an arrogant pig' duty at school."

"He said he'd be nice."

"You really don't know Tristan."

Lorelai sighed. "Maybe not, but neither do you, sweetie."

"Okay, okay, I said I'd try to be nice, but if he arrives at our house on Friday in lots of little pieces, you cannot hold it against me. He drove me to it."

"Deal."

"Rory, what are you doing up this early? Did someone die?"

Rory looked up with a smile as Lane made her way to their table. "Not yet, but Tristan might this weekend."

"And here this morning she was predicting that it would be _me_ that would be dead."

"I stand by that prediction," Rory said with a serious nod. "Besides his status as _It_-"

"The clown?" Lane inquired.

"Yes."

"Tristan is the scary clown from _It?_"

"He was in my dream."

"You were dreaming about Tristan last night?" Lorelai asked with mock astonishment. "Rory, you scarlet woman, cheating on Dean like that."

"Did no one hear the part about him being a psychotic scary killer?"

"No. I'm focussing on the fact that your John Boy Walton fantasy is still alive." Lorelai smirked.

"Rory has fantasies about John Boy Walton."

"From the early age of five."

"And it didn't last," Rory interrupted with a glare at her mother.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Clearly it did, because you were dreaming about him last night."

"No, I was dreaming about Tristan killing the population of Stars Hollow last night."

"But you mentioned _It_ and that, of course, brings us back to John Boy Walton, who was the main character, remember."

"Yeah," Lane smiled, "he had the long ponytail."

"That he did. And Rory was dreaming about Tristan and _It_. _It_ means John Boy, which means huge crushes, and Tristan in relation to that means that she has a big fat crush on Tristan."

"Seriously, have you been smoking something this morning?" Rory asked in askance. "What part of 'he was trying to kill us all' did you both miss?"

"The part where you forgot to mention you had a big crush on Tristan," Lane said with a decided nod.

"I do not have a big crush on Tristan, I had a baby crush on John Boy Walton when I was five, Tristan was trying to kill us last night and you two don't care!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Next time Greek Boy turns up in your dreams, I will concentrate only on his killing qualities."

"Thank you."

Lane frowned. "Greek Boy?"

"Oh, I see I was not the only person you deigned _not_ to give that information to."

"What information? I'm more confused than when Mama told me to go get myself a Hershey's bar from the store."

"Your mother let you buy chocolate?" Lorelai asked in awe.

"No." Lane sighed. "It was a test. I failed miserably."

"Ah."

"So, what information did my best friend fail to give me?"

"Did she ever tell you what Bible Boy looked like?"

Lane frowned. "Satan comes to mind, but I doubt he gets away with the horns and the tail at Chilton, therefore, I'm drawing a blank."

"See, there was vital information missing from her descriptions."

"There was?"

"Yes, Herculean, Greek God looking information."

"Tristan is a Greek God?" Lane asked with a wide-eyed smile.

"Tristan is _not_ a Greek God!"

"'Out if tune, sir: ye lie'." Lorelai smirked.

"Don't try to use my own quotes against me. Tristan is not a Greek God. He may be mildly attractive, but that fact is overshadowed by his inability to get my name right and the sheer arrogance he exudes with every breath he takes."

"And every move he makes?" Lane asked, hiding her grin.

"And every single day?" Lorelai continued.

"This is not funny."

"You're right, it's not." Her mother nodded. "Tristan is a young Brad Pitt and you did not pass on the information, this is a very serious matter."

"Brad Pitt?" Lane cried.

"Oh, yes."

"No. Not Brad Pitt."

Lorelai nodded. "Brad Pitt."

"Brad Pitt ala _Legends of the Fall_, or Brad Pitt, ala _The Mexican_?"

"More like, Brad Pitt, ala _Meet Joe Black_."

"How could you not tell me?" Lane asked. "You knew I was living vicariously through you and you did not tell me anything about Brad Pitt looks."

"We seem to be forgetting that Brad Pitt was '_Death_' in that film. And you aren't living vicariously any more. You have Henry."

"Subtle change of subject," Lorelai said with a nod. "Choose a topic that will engage someone no matter what topic they were previously attempting to pursue. You are my daughter."

"I am. So, Lane, Henry?"

Lane sighed, then shook her head. "Don't think I will be forgetting your lack of Brad Pitt like information."

"I wouldn't dream of it. How's Henry?"

"Insane. He wants to have a family dinner." Lane shook her head. "With my family."

Lorelai frowned and looked at her oddly. "He knows about your mother, right?"

"Yes, he does. Hence insane. _One Flew Over the Cookoos Nest_ insane."

"Although, he wasn't insane at the start," Rory stated.

"He was at the end, just as Henry will be after he meets my mother. He doesn't realise that she does not exactly know of his existence as a future Korean Doctor. That is the only fact that may save him, but I can't get her to calm down long enough to actually tell her."

Rory frowned. "You said _when_ he meets her."

"Yeah, I kinda agreed."

"Why?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Well, he has that smile and those eyes and, and, and I'm going to make my will right now."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad." Lorelai said, pulling her ringing cell phone from her bag. "Somehow." She waved her acknowledgement to Luke as he motioned her outside with the offensive object and answered. "Hello? Yes, just a moment. I'll be outside," she told the girls and left the diner.

"So," Lane asked with a smile. "How was last night?"

"Oh, just great. My insane mother met Tristan, liked him, decided he's Brad Pitt reincarnated, as you already know, despite the fact that Brad is still with us, and she invited him to spend the weekend and with us so he can come to the End of Summer Festival."

"That's not good."

"No, it's not."

"Especially when I meant, how was your two month anniversary date with Dean."

"Oh," Rory smiled embarrassedly. "That was great."

"Great as in 'actual' great, or great as in 'my mother invited Tristan over for the weekend' sarcastic great?"

Rory sighed. "Jury's still out."

"Ouch."

"I know." She let out a breath. "No, it was good."

"So good, in fact, that when I asked you about it, the first person you mentioned was Tristan and when I asked you to verify how 'great' it was, you compared it to spending the weekend with Satan."

"Lane."

"What? It was just an observation."

Rory sighed again. "It's not that he's doing anything wrong, he's just trying too hard."

"How awful. I can't imagine what it must be like to have a guy trying his hardest to make you happy."

"Lane, that's not what I meant and you know it."

"I know. So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Nothing?"

Lane smiled sadly. "If you leave it then it can only get worse."

"Or maybe it will go away."

"Ah, the infamous Gilmore 'ignore it and it's not real' tactic."

"Hey, it worked with Kirk," Rory stated. "We had him questioning his own existence for over a week."

"True, but Kirk is not Dean."

"Ugh, Lane, don't ever give me those evil images again!" Rory cried. "You are supposed to be my best friend!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Lorelai asked, rejoining them.

"She made Kirk Dean."

Lorelai opened her jaw as if she was gagging. "Lane, if you want to be fed junk food at my house ever again you will wash your mouth out with soap."

"I'm sorry! Please don't take away my only reason for living!"

"What do you think, Rory?"

"Okay, but only if someone changes the subject, and quickly, before I lose the will to live."

"Oh, so I just spoke to Tristan."

"You spoke to Tristan?"

"I did."

"How?"

"See, there's this wonderful invention called a telephone."

"You called Tristan?"

"Yes, Rory, _I_ called _him_, that's why my phone was ringing a few seconds ago."

"Tristan called you?" Rory asked, in disbelief. "The world is on class A drugs this week and I never got my share."

"Actually, his mother called me. She wanted to make sure that it was really okay for this weekend."

"And you said no, right?"

Lorelai frowned. "No, Rory, I said yes. If you had seen his house, you would understand why."

"Very Addams Family?" Lane asked.

"Without the fun family."

"So he's still coming. Great." Rory frowned.

"I did speak to him and I made him promise to be nice to you in school." Lorelai said, trying to appease her.

"I'm officially in hell, but what's worse is that I didn't even get in on my own merit. My mother drove me there in her jeep."

"Jeep? I got you into hell and I don't even merit a Harley? Lane," she said turning to the small Korean girl, "my daughter doesn't love me."

"I think you deserve a Harley, Lorelai. Especially since we now know that Satan looks like Brad Pitt."

"You're my new favourite daughter. You're an honorary Gilmore for life."

"Are you just handing that title out this week?" Luke asked as he filled up their cups, handing a third to Lane.

"Wow, you didn't even have to argue with him," Lane said as Lorelai picked up her mug. "What happened?"

"Luke likes Shakespeare." Lorelai grinned impishly.

"No, he does not." Luke turned to Lane. "No, I do not."

"Luke likes Shakespeare," Rory reiterated. She looked up at him. "Who else did she give the title to?"

"No one," Lorelai interrupted.

"No." Rory glared at her mother. "You did not give Tristan DuGrey honorary Gilmore status. Tell me you didn't."

"I didn't?" Lorelai tried to smile.

"I hate you."

"No, you love me. I give you coffee."

"No, Luke gives me coffee."

"I pay for Luke to give you coffee."

"That's not always true," Luke interrupted.

"Shh, I'm trying to stop my daughter from hating me and you're not helping."

"Okay, but for what it's worth, I tried to help you last night, Rory."

"Running Tristan over with your truck would not have helped her."

"Oh, yes, it would have," Rory said perkily. "Thank you, Luke."

"You're welcome, Rory." Luke nodded and walked back to the counter.

"It wouldn't have helped because Tristan was already inside his house and we were already on the highway when Luke said he should have done it, so it would not have helped."

Rory sighed. "You realise you've just made my life unbearable, right?"

Lorelai smiled. "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger."

"He was _It_ last night, that's not a good phrase to use right now."

Lorelai only grinned and she couldn't help but smile back a little. Lane, relieved that the conversation was not going to end in argument, began talking about how to get herself out of the family dinner she had agreed to, but Rory wasn't really paying much attention. She had to go to school on Monday and Dean wouldn't return in time to see him before she got there. She wasn't sure what she hated the most, the fact that she had to face Tristan before she had told Dean he was supposed to be her new best friend at Chilton, or the fact that she was actually hoping he would stick to his word and actually _be_ her friend. Her life was getting more complicated by the second, but part of her was looking forward to the adventure…she just wasn't so sure which part of her it was.

xxxxx

**End of Part Two: Where's Waldo?**

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Okay, I hope I was able to remain in character here. I hope to get cracking with chapter three (the start has already been written) as soon as I have finished my essay on Twelfth Night - see where the reference came from! ;)

Keep up the wonderful reviewing, I love you all!


	3. Dude Looks Like A Lady

I want to start by saying I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I won't bore you with all the details of my life, but suffice to say that the words 'hectic' and 'insane' don't even cover it.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter; I'm a little worried about characterisation in this part as it's the first one without Lorelai and she's the easiest to write for me! My beta has assured me that it's all fine, though.

Once more, wonderful thanks to my lovely beta, DanaMulder. Feedback has blown me away for this fic and is encouraging me to keep it coming, so all feedback for this chapter would be appreciated and any ideas will be taken into consideration. Hope you all enjoy.

xxxxx

**Part Three: Dude (Looks Like A Lady)**

xxxxx

He wasn't sure how he had managed to get himself into this, but he was neither a fool nor a masochist; all he could do was try his best. He wasn't going to give up this chance to get to know her, but if it didn't work this time, then he wasn't going to go back for more. If there was one thing his conversations with Lorelai had made him realise it was that Rory was different and he could no longer keep telling himself otherwise. She was different and that meant that she could hurt him. He had enough people in his life already who did that, he didn't need another.

Spotting her as he turned the corner, he made a beeline for her locker, propping himself next to her open door. "Hey, Mary."

"I see my mother was mistaken," she all but growled at him and he almost took a step back, but he didn't; he had to make her understand.

"Listen, Rory, I-"

"Well, look at that, he does know my name. Wonders will never cease." She slammed her locker shut and continued to glare at him. This would never work.

He frowned. "You know what, this was stupid. Tell your mom thanks, but I'll pass on this weekend." He turned around and headed to his first class.

"Tristan, no, wait."

"What do you want, Mary?" He turned, raising his eyebrows at her.

"God, do you have to be so difficult? And will you please stop calling me Mary? You wonder why we're not friends, maybe you should think about learning my name."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, lowering his voice before they started to attract an audience. "I know your name, Rory."

"Then use it," she said forcefully. She really didn't get it. "I have no wish to be lumped in with all those other conquests of yours that you de-Mary'd. I will not be de-Mary'd by you."

"It's nice to know you have such a high opinion of me."

"If the shoe fits."

He shook his head. "Let me ask you this, have you ever heard me call anyone else 'Mary'? I mean, sure I've called someone 'a' Mary before, but not since you and never just 'Mary'."

His words seemed to get through to her, because she frowned and thought about it for a moment. She looked up to his expectant gaze and opened her mouth a few times, seemingly trying to force herself to speak. "Well, well...that's a lie... Ah! You call Mary Roberts 'Mary'," she exclaimed triumphantly.

"Only because she doesn't like it when I call her 'hey you'. I mean, I wouldn't care, but she's got that whole 'all I have to do it sit on you and I could cause you severe internal damage' thing going on."

"That's horrible!"

"What? She's all muscle, Mary, I wasn't insulting her." He frowned. "I'm too scared to insult her." She laughed. "Well, look at that," he said softly, teasingly. "She does know how to laugh. Wonders will never cease."

Rory rolled her eyes and he finally grinned at her. She seemed surprised that he knew how to do anything other than smirk and he almost faltered until she returned it with one of her own. He nodded and inclined his head to the classroom as the bell rang.

"Shall we?" he asked gallantly.

"We shall!"

"Well, isn't this sweet." Tristan looked up to see Paris glaring at them from behind Rory. "Out of my way, Gilmore, some of us find actually going to class more important than making out in the corridor."

Before Tristan could say anything, Rory scathingly replied. "Gee, Paris, you really need to get out more if you think this is making out. If a conversation between friends has you worried, you better watch out for your first kiss, you might get pregnant."

"Why, is that what happened to your mother?"

"You leave her mother out of this," Tristan interjected harshly, drawing surprised looks from both girls. "I don't know what your problem is, Paris, but Rory and I are friends, get used to it."

"So much for hating him," she growled to Rory, not replying to Tristan. "Hope you enjoyed PJ Harvey, because he's not likely to stick around much longer."

"That's where you're wrong, Paris," he said, drawing the attention again. "And Rory never agreed to go to PJ Harvey with me." Without waiting for a reply, Tristan placed a hand on Rory's arm, forcing himself to ignore the heat of her under his hand and guided her to the classroom. "C'mon, Mary."

She followed without question and let him lead her into the classroom. He noticed that the attention of his classmates was as acute as ever and almost groaned out loud. It was no secret that he had always wanted Rory Gilmore, although the rumour mill had it stated that he wanted her as simply another conquest, but if he was going to make this friendship thing work, he needed to speak to a few of his friends and get those rumours stopped.

They took desks next to each other towards the back of Mr. Medina's English class and she flashed him a small smile before taking her books from her bag. He grinned and pulled out the complete works of Oscar Wilde before turning his attention to the front of the class.

The class seemed to be over before it had begun and he stretched out his hand, glaring at the pages of notes in front of him. They had been writing for what seemed like an eternity. The bell rang and he packed up his things as his fellow students quickly left the room. He waited a moment until she had repacked her bag and they walked towards the door together.

"Rory, can I have a word?"

He glanced at Mr. Medina before turning back to her. "I'll save you a seat in History."

"Ooh, make sure they're good ones, far away from the peanut gallery."

He grinned. "Will do."

It was no secret that Mr. Medina and Rory's mother had had a relationship in the past and, from what he had heard, it seemed like they were back together. He had to admit that he found the whole thing a little weird. He had no idea how Rory managed to cope seeing one of her teachers away from school, let along having one of them date her mom.

He waltzed into the history classroom and commandeered two seats against the far wall, sitting backwards in his chair to talk to his friends. "What?" he asked questioningly as Graeme smirked at him.

"Things going well with Gilmore, I take it?"

He shook his head with a rueful smile. "Not the way you're thinking. Gilmore has made it clear that she's off limits to us all and I don't intend to make a fool of myself."

"That didn't stop you last year," Brian said with a smirk and Tristan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, things change. Mary's actually okay to hang with. For a start, she knows how to form sentences and she doesn't spend all her time talking about makeup and what Britney Spears was wearing this weekend."

"Then clearly she did not see what Miss Spears was wearing at the weekend. Yeouch, that outfit deserved to be talked about." Tristan laughed as Brian continued, "Oh, and we got ourselves a new Mary." He turned his head and Tristan followed his gaze. "Ripe for the picking, don't you think?"

Tristan studied the small redhead and shrugged. "I guess." He turned back to the stunned faces of his friends with a smirk. "I'll tell you what; I'll leave her to you. My parents were less than thrilled by my drop to fifth in the class last year and I'm forced to give up valuable dating time for study." His friends seemed less than convinced. "What?"

Colin laughed. "You. You _know_ and yet you remain completely clueless."

Tristan frowned but, before he could say anything in reply, he almost jumped out of his skin. He whirled around to see Rory flopping into the chair, her schoolbag on the desk where she had just dropped it.

"What you got in there, Mary, bricks?"

"Yes, my intention for this year is to build a mall in my schoolbag so that I don't have to leave the comfort of my own home to shop."

"Well, be sure to invite me to the opening."

"Of course, you'll be the one to do the customary first act of vandalism. I expect nothing less."

"I'm honoured." He stood up and turned around to face the front of the class before sitting in his chair properly. He worked out a few cracks in his shoulders and sat down with a sigh. He knew that classes were supposed to be harder this year, but if Mr. Medina's class was anything to go by, then he had a lot more work to focus on this year than he had realised. He pulled out his history notepad and opened it, smirking as he spotted Rory pulling out a bright pink pad.

She shrugged and smiled embarrassedly. "I lost the toast toss."

Tristan frowned. "Toast toss?"

Rory nodded. "It's like a coin toss, only you have to call whether or not the jelly side will land on the floor."

Tristan chuckled. "Sounds…interesting."

"Only when you win. Otherwise you get clean up duty and when you're doing best out of three, that can be messy. Mom talked me into best out of nine once. That was not fun."

"Okay, settle down everyone." The class slowly quietened and Tristan shook his head at Rory in amusement before giving the new teacher his full attention. History was his favourite subject; not that he had ever really admitted to having one when asked, and he was curious to see whether or not the new teacher would be up to standards.

The man was rather short, balding, sporting a small pair of glasses, and a suit that looked suspiciously tweed. Were he English, he could have fallen into the typical stereotype that Tristan knew the English despised.

"My name is Miles Ward, PhD." He wasn't English.

"They got the PhD on your birth certificate, Sir?" Rory glared at him and Tristan just shrugged. He couldn't help himself when things like that were just offered to him on a silver platter.

"Yes, right next to the order to have my sense of humour removed, Mr.…?"

"DuGray," Tristan supplied, unable to stop himself from adding, "Tristan DuGray," in his best Sean Connery accent.

"Well, Mr. DuGray, having reviewed my student files, I'm surprised to find that the best student in the class has the time to be so disrespectful."

"It's a skill. They put it on my birth certificate, right next to my sense of humour."

After a few moments of staring at him, where Tristan was sure he was about to be sent to the principal's office, Miles Ward, PhD, began to laugh. "Spirit. That's what I like to see in the young." The surprise Tristan felt was echoed in the faces of his peers, causing the teacher to laugh harder. "You seem confused. Well, let me begin by stating that history is more than my subject; it is my passion. The great rulers and key figures in history are my idols, even those that were less than pleasant. Why? Because they changed worlds, altered the course of civilisations, planned the battles that changed the face of the planet, climbed mountains, and crossed the seas. History may seem boring to those in possession of few brain cells, but for the adventurers amongst you, for those with spirit, I intend to help you relive the past."

As the teacher continued, Tristan couldn't stop himself from smiling. By the end of the class, Miles Ward, PhD had surpassed all his previous standards. History was going to be good this year.

"I didn't know you were the top of the class."

Tristan laughed. "Trust you to spend an entire period learning about the wonders of Ancient Egypt and come out of it with _that_ as the most interesting point made."

Rory shrugged. "I just didn't know, that's all."

"Why would you?"

"I wouldn't, I guess. I just would have pegged you as an English or Sports kind of guy."

"But you know I wasn't top of English, because there isn't a person in Chilton who doesn't know that Paris has that spot. And who says I couldn't be top of more than one class."

"No one, I just never would have picked history as your best subject."

"It's not," Tristan said, picking up his bag. He leaned closer to her, not really wanting the few stragglers to over hear. "It's just my favourite."

"Mr. DuGray, Miss Gilmore, may I have a word?"

They looked up to see their teacher smiling at them. They glanced at each other and Tristan shrugged as Rory picked up her bag and followed him to the front of the class.

"Is there anything wrong?" Rory asked.

"No, Miss Gilmore, nothing is wrong. I simply wondered if I might ask a favour of the two of you."

They exchanged a glance once more. Tristan frowned. "What kind of favour?"

"Well, as you may know, the American Museum of National History in New York is hosting an exhibition of Leonardo's Codex Leicester. From what I gather it's set to be a very interesting display. However, the exhibition will only be at the museum for the next three weeks. I was, prior to accepting my position here, planning on attending, but since I will now be filling young minds with the wonders of the past, I decided that it might be an idea to send a few students instead. There would, of course, be extra credit work involved, an essay perhaps, but it has gone through the school as an officially sanctioned trip, all I need are the two best, and most interested, parties."

Tristan couldn't stop the grin from covering his face. He glanced at Rory, who seemed just as thrilled at the idea.

"I was just wondering if you might know of two such students," Mr. Ward continued.

"I think it's safe to say that we'd be in," Tristan said.

"Excellent. The trip will be in two weeks time. You were both suggested by your previous teacher and, having reviewed your work over the past two years, there was no question that you are the best suited academically, however, I did want to meet you first. From what I have been told and what I saw today, I think I can trust you to keep each other in check. You, Mr. DuGray will have your work cut out for you in ensuring that Miss Gilmore frees some of her spirit for the subject and Miss Gilmore can keep you in line."

"Sounds like a good deal to me, what do you say, Mary?"

Rory smiled. "Sounds good."

"You will both, of course, require parental consent and your behaviour until then will need to be at a high standard in all your classes."

"Think you can handle that, Tristan?"

"Oh, I think so."

"Excellent." Mr. Ward smiled at them. "Well, I'll have the consent forms ready by your next class."

Rory and Tristan left the room, smiling.

xxxxx

"I'm dead, my body just doesn't know it yet."

"That's rather melodramatic, don't you think?"

Rory closed her locker door and glared at him. "You try sitting through double maths with Mrs. Anderson, while sitting next to Paris Gellar."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"How did you manage to get Mr. Shaw for maths when I got Mrs. Anderson?"

"I took physical education during those periods."

"Okay, you got it worse than I did."

Tristan laughed. "You should try sports sometime, Mary, it might loosen a bit of that spirit."

"It's against my religion."

They walked out into the parking lot and Tristan indicated his car. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

"No, it's okay."

Tristan nodded and looked down, scuffing his feet. "So, what did Bag Boy say about my visit this weekend?"

"His name is Dean and it's none of your business."

He smirked. "You haven't told him yet, then."

"God, you really are annoying." Rory said angrily. "Will you just-"

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, calm down." Tristan help his hands up in defeat. He knew she wasn't just angry at him. He had watched her often enough, become used to her little quirks, to know that she was likely mad at herself for not telling her boyfriend yet. "Listen, Mary, you can't just expect me to change completely. You have to realise that I'm not always trying to annoy you. I like to tease. I'm not trying to make your life more difficult."

"Really? You could have fooled me."

"Look, whatever I said in the past, I never meant anything by it, I was only trying to swing a date."

"I don't purr."

"I said date, not cat."

Rory smiled. "Huh."

"What?" he asked, confused by her sudden change.

"My mom's right, you are good at this."

"What?"

"Following conversation."

"Oh. Eh, thanks."

"Welcome."

"So," he said with a slight shrug. "Still a no on that ride?"

She hesitated. "I really shouldn't. I want to tell Dean."

Tristan nodded. "Okay, I won't push." He smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mary."

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, smiling back. He walked by her and headed to his car, only stopping when she called after him. "Today was nice."

"Yeah, it was," he agreed. "Say hi to your mom for me."

"I have to admit that's a little odd."

"What?"

"You saying hi to my mom."

"Sorry?" he said, not quite sure whether or not it would be too rude to retract the hello. He didn't really want to either; he liked Lorelai. She was full of life and she was a little crazy as well. It mixed things up.

"No, it's just odd."

He nodded, not quite sure where to take the conversation on that front. Glancing behind her, he frowned. "Er, isn't that your bus?"

Rory turned just in time to see her bus leaving the stop. She groaned. "That's not good."

"When's the next one?"

"An hour."

She turned back to face him and he raised his eyebrows. "Now can I give you a ride?"

"I don't know, Tristan."

"Look, I promise not to say anything that could possibly be construed as negative if we run into your boyfriend and I'll let you explain the whole thing. You missed your bus; I gave you a much needed ride."

"And then I get to tell him about the weekend. Won't that be fun?"

"Well, surely you can blame that on your mom," Tristan said with a smirk as he led the way to his car.

"Yeah, I know, it's just that I hate the fact that he'll be so angry and hurt." Rory opened the door and got in, placing her bag in the back and putting on her seatbelt.

Tristan followed the motions he was used to; all the while trying not to think about the fact that he was talking to Rory Gilmore about her relationship with her boyfriend. Life really had a way of sucker punching you when you least expected it.

"Music?" Rory asked.

"Knock yourself out. There are CDs in the glove compartment."

Rory nodded and began to rake through his CDs, making noises of approval and disappointment as she did so. "What's in just now?"

Tristan turned on the CD player and the music came on a little too loudly. He turned it down as Rory replaced the CDs. "Sorry, used to travelling alone," he said, a little sheepishly.

"That's okay," she said with a grin. "Turn it back up. This one I approve of."

Tristan grinned back, not really wanting to break the eye contact, but checking the road was becoming a necessity. He cranked the volume back up and began to tap the rhythm onto the steering wheel. He glanced at Rory, who was bobbing her head to the music and singing along quietly.

"Come on, Mary, Aerosmith deserves a bit more volume than that," he said with a wink and she turned to him, a challenge in her eyes.

"I will if you will," she shouted over the music.

He grinned again and started to sing, loudly. Rory laughed and joined in, singing the lyrics of _Dude (Looks Like A Lady)_ at the top of her lungs.

By the time they reached Stars Hollow, the CD had been skipped to _Pink_, _Walk This Way_, and back to _Dude (Looks Like A Lady)_, which he had learned was her favourite, and both Rory and Tristan were feeling a lot happier about their new friendship. He had never dared to think that she might take to the idea, but he was grateful that she had. Lorelai had been right when she said that being nice and trying to be Rory's friend was the best way to go.

He reached out and turned down the music. "So, where to? You'll have to direct me to the coffee."

She grinned. "Who said anything about coffee."

"If there is one thing I have learned it's that where there is coffee, there is a Gilmore."

"You have learned well, I am impressed."

"So," he said, with a grin, "do I drive and see where I end up or are you going to direct me?"

"Luke's is right there." Rory pointed straight ahead to their right and he nodded, pulling up outside it.

"Rory, do I want to know why there is a hardware sign above the door?"

"It used to be his dad's hardware store; Luke didn't want to take down the sign when his dad died, so he didn't."

"He must have loved his dad."

"He did."

Tristan jumped a little, not having realised he had said anything aloud. Rory seemed to understand and didn't say anything more on the subject. "Now, out. Coffee calls."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, turning off the engine. He had half expected to be sent on his way in case they ran into Bag Boy, but if she wasn't thinking about that, then neither would he.

They entered the diner and Tristan instantly recognised the man behind the counter. He wasn't too cool to admit that the man had been a little scary on first meeting, but Tristan had seen one thing to make him relax a little; the man was wrapped around Lorelai Gilmore's little finger and he was on good terms with the elder Gilmore girl. He hoped that was enough.

"You brought him?" Luke said in way of a greeting.

"Nope, he is a figment of your imagination," Rory replied with an impish grin.

"Nice to see you again, Sir."

Luke grunted. "It's Luke."

Tristan smirked. "Nice to see you again, Sir Luke."

"Ooh, Star Wars. You get brownie points for that one," Rory said excitedly.

"I seem to be collecting quite a few of those, what do they get me?"

"Keep saving, you'll find out one day."

Luke frowned. "He bugged you yet this week?"

"All the time."

"Hey!"

"But it's nothing I can't handle." Rory smiled sweetly.

Luke nodded. "Food?"

"Coffee."

"No."

"Lu-uke, please?"

"Fine. But when it kills you, you sure as hell better haunt me so that I can say 'I told you so'."

"Done."

Luke poured them each coffee, but when Tristan pulled out his wallet, he was waved away with a frown. Not really wanting to test his theory as to whether being in Lorelai's good books would save him from Luke, he didn't argue.

"So, do we sit or walk?"

"Walk?" Rory questioned.

"Well, you have a quaint little town here and I'd quite like to see it."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Quaint?"

Tristan shrugged. "It fit."

"Quaint?" Rory frowned. "I think I'm officially offended on behalf of Stars Hollow."

"I apologise. Now, will you show me the town?"

Rory seemed to ponder it for a moment before nodding. "Okay, but we need to stay away from Doose's. Dean's working."

Tristan nodded. He had promised not to say anything negative about Dean. He figured it would be easier not to say anything at all. He hadn't messed up too much yet, but day one of the DuGray/Gilmore friendship wasn't even over yet, he wasn't going to tempt fate. If he opened his mouth, he knew an insult would leave his lips where her boyfriend was concerned.

They wandered slowly through the town - avoiding Doose's - before ending up in the gazebo. Taking a seat and finishing the last of his coffee (Rory had long since finished hers); Tristan couldn't help but smile at her.

"Well, that's Stars Hollow."

"I like it. It's a lot better than Hartford, anyway. A lot better."

"We like it well enough."

"Although," he said with a slight shudder, "that crazy woman at the Dance Studio was a little much."

Rory took one look at his face and laughed. "I think you just became next in line to be Miss Patty's next ex-husband."

"If that woman comes near me again, I expect you to save me."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I quite like watching you dance. I had no idea you were such a Patrick Swayze."

"Take that back."

"That was a compliment. Patrick is the universal sexy man to all straight women and gay men who have seen _Dirty Dancing_."

"My sister has made me watch that film at least twice a month for the past year; I'm expected to wind through the 'naughty bits'. It's torture."

"You have a sister?"

Tristan looked at her, a little surprised. "Eh, yeah."

"How old is she?"

"She's ten. Her name's Ellie."

Rory smiled. "That's pretty."

"It's actually Elizabeth."

"But everyone calls her Ellie?"

"No," Tristan said with a smile, "just me. Eliza or Ellie."

"That's sweet. I always wanted a brother or sister. What does she call you?"

"Tris."

"That's cute."

Tristan shrugged. "We're lucky there's only six years between us. There are ten between me and Jason and we've never got on."

"You have a brother as well?"

Tristan nodded, but didn't look at her. "Yes. He's twenty-six. Dad's little spitfire in the office, taking over where he's needed."

"So you're the middle child?"

"If your next line is, 'that explains a lot', save it."

"I wasn't going to say that."

"Then what?"

"I was going to say that you're lucky to have Elizabeth."

"Yeah, I am." Tristan turned to her. "Call her Ellie. My parents call her Elizabeth."

"Okay."

They sat staring at each other for a few moments before Tristan felt the urge to kiss her. He knew he couldn't and he knew that she would be unlikely to respond in kind, but he wanted to.

"Rory!" They both jumped a little as someone bounced up to join them. "I've been looking for you."

"Hey Lane." Rory frowned. "I thought your mom was only letting you out for school?"

"She is, but she's at her bible meeting for another twenty minutes and I heard Aerosmith blaring from somewhere and I just knew it had to be you." She turned to Tristan. "No one in this town has good taste in music that isn't either on this gazebo or Lorelai Gilmore."

Tristan chuckled a little. "Good to know."

"Since Rory has yet to introduce us, I'm just assuming that you must be Tristan."

"You been talking about me, Mary?"

"No, my mother has."

"So has Rory, but she usually deigns to add the words 'Spawn of Satan' or 'Evil' before or after your name."

"I had heard that." Tristan placed a hand over his heart. "You're killing me here, Gilmore."

"I could if you like?" Rory smiled sweetly.

"I thought _he_ was _It_?"

Tristan frowned. "I'm guessing this is another one of those things that I don't want to know, right?" Rory nodded and Tristan smiled. "So," he said, turning back to Lane. "You got my name; I'm still waiting on yours."

"Oh, I'm Lane and I really have to go before Mama gets back."

Tristan frowned. "Your name sounds familiar."

"Whatever she said, it isn't true," Lane said pointing to Rory.

Tristan smirked. "No, it wasn't Rory, it was a certain Korean guy I happen to run track with."

"Henry?" Lane's face lit up. "Henry's talked about me?"

"Constantly." Tristan smiled, exchanging a glance with Rory as Lane almost glowed.

"Tell me everything."

"I thought you had to get back before your mom," Tristan teased.

"I'm already grounded and I need information or I will be forced to live the life of an old maid alone in my bedroom with only my bible as company and no end in sight."

"What do you want to know?"

"What has he said?"

Tristan shrugged. "I don't know…lots? He likes you, he wants to take you out to dinner, but he knows your mother isn't particularly keen on the idea-"

"That's putting it mildly. Two weeks of solitary confinement, mildly."

"Ouch." Tristan grimaced. "I thought I got it bad."

"When you've been well versed in the ways of Mama Kim you can talk to me about getting it bad, until then, Greek Boy, you know nothing."

"Greek Boy? Your mother never did explain that one to me, Mary."

When Rory and Lane both blushed a little, Tristan was definitely intrigued. However, a slight squawk of surprise from Rory caused him to file it away for later.

"Lane, your mom!"

"Oh, my God, stall her, stall her!"

Lane took off towards her house as Rory looked at Tristan in panic. "What do we do?" Lane had edged around the gazebo and was about to enter into her mother's line of sight.

Tristan smirked. "Leave this to me."

"Oh, no, Tristan I don't think that's a good-"

"Trust me, Mary," he said with a wink and Rory groaned.

"I just know I'm going to regret this."

Tristan jumped to his feet and headed straight towards the rather scary looking woman that was charging down the street. He smirked and cleared his throat, before putting on his best innocent look and intercepting.

"Excuse me, I was wondering-"

Mrs. Kim glared and he almost took a step back. "Who are you?"

"My name is Tristan DuGray, ma'am. I was just wondering if you could tell me about the bible meetings I've heard are held here. My own parish only holds meetings on Wednesday's and I volunteer to help disabled children on a Wednesday night and can't make it."

Mrs. Kim glared. "You look like you lie."

"Never. Ma'am, I-"

"You read your bible?"

Tristan smiled. "My friends call me Bible Boy." There was a snort of laughter from the gazebo, but luckily Mrs. Kim hadn't been listening for it and, therefore, hadn't heard it.

"Meetings are Monday night and Thursday night. Come next week." Mrs. Kim glared at him once more. "Now get out of my way."

Tristan moved and let her past, sure that Lane must be safely at home, before heading back to the gazebo. He smirked when he saw Rory clutching at her sides on the bench, where he had left her.

"Something funny, Mary."

"Y-you're shameless, Tristan," she said, catching her breath.

"Thank you." He bowed and extended a hand, pulling her up.

"But the disabled children thing was a bit much."

Tristan shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Rory Gilmore."

The tone of his voice made her smile fade. She regarded him thoughtfully and opened her mouth to speak, but before she said anything, she registered something behind him and her eyes widened. Tristan didn't have to wonder who was there.

He turned slowly, setting his smirk in place. "Farm Boy," he said in way of greeting, remembering too late his promise to Rory.

xxxxx

**End of Part Three: Dude (Looks Like A Lady)**

xxxxx

I wanted to say that I realise there are a lot of Bond references in this fic so far, or rather a repeat of the same one. Sorry! It wasn't intentional, but it's done now and I'll just need to keep an eye out for the future.

Also, in regards to the Museum thing, I checked the Museum of Natural History's past exhibits, but there were no dates, so I just picked one. I ask you to please pretend that it was on then! ;)

Oh, and see that little button down there, the review one, you know you want to hit it… ;)


	4. Why It's Greased Lightnin'

**Notes: **Okay, I'm not going to ply you with excuses as to why this has taken so long. Let's just say I suck and move on. ;p You guys, however, rock. Thanks so much for all the reviews and support this fic has received. I really appreciate it.

I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. It was written in various different bits from various points of view and I had to change it so that it was all from Lorelai. If it seems stilted or out of character in places, I apologise, but I've done my best to merge it all into a cohesive whole.

**PLUS, this hasn't been betad yet, so if there are any remaining Briticisms etc, I'm sorry.** Please note that, as previously stated, I will continue to spell the British way unless it affects the speech; i.e. mum, mom.

**Season4.5:** Thanks! Plus, I didn't know who Dave was until about a week ago! Finally seen season 3, just need season 4 to hurry up and come out on DVD and I'll finally have seen every season of Gilmore Girls! (I had only seen season one when I started writing this.)

**CharmingPiper:** Don't worry, Rory will not remain hyper sensitive to his teasing. I just didn't want them to be completely buddy-buddy right away; I don't think it would be true to the characters. She is going to get used to his sense of humour, though, and will likely start giving as good as she gets!

xxxxx

**Part Four: Why it's Greased Lightnin'**

xxxxx

"Oh. Oh, no. That cannot be good."

"What?"

"Look." She pointed out the window towards the Gazebo and Luke frowned. "Tristan, Dean, and Rory, all together. I just know Greek Boy won't be able to keep that mouth of his in check."

"And you _want_ him and Rory to be friends?"

"Yes, but he doesn't like Dean."

"Smart kid."

"I should go out there; I don't think they can even see Dean coming."

"They should be able to see the smoke coming from his ears."

Lorelai smiled. "Luke. Did you just make a joke?"

The man glared and shifted uncomfortably. "I thought you were going to save Rory and Richie Rich."

"Aw, you gave him a nickname? I think I'm having a good influence on you." Lorelai grinned, picking up her purse and heading out the door. She walked quickly, arriving just in time to hear Tristan utter the words, 'Farm Boy'.

"Stupid boy," she muttered.

"Rory, what is he doing here?" Dean ground out and she suddenly appeared at his side, a fake smile on her face.

"There you two are!" She glanced at Tristan and Rory before looking at Dean. The taller boy frowned at her in confusion; almost betrayal. "Hi, Dean. I see you've all met. Tristan is here at my request."

"Not today, he's not," Rory said softly and Lorelai sent her daughter a look that clearly said, 'What are you doing? This is your out.'

"I missed the bus, Dean, and Tristan gave me a ride."

"So that explains why you're sitting drinking coffee with him."

"I asked him to."

"You know what," Tristan said, running a hand through his hair, "I think I'll just go. Should solve your little problem."

"Yeah, why don't you do that," Dean said condescendingly and Lorelai watched Tristan's jaw twitch, half expecting the blond to start a fight, but he said nothing.

"You know what, Tristan, why don't you take Rory home; I need to have a little chat with Dean."

"No, mum." Rory shook her head. "I need to talk to Dean myself. Can you and Tristan just go and wait in Luke's?"

Lorelai could see that Dean wasn't happy with the idea of Tristan going to Luke's instead of his car, but nodded. The two of them left the gazebo and she heard Tristan sigh.

"Farm boy?" she questioned.

He shrugged. "My mouth just acted on instinct."

"You know Dean's from Chicago, right? …you know; windy _city_?"

"Don't really care."

"You might want to start. You don't have to like him-"

"Thank God," Tristan muttered.

"-_but_ he's a part of Rory's life and he's not expendable."

"And I am, I get it. Like I said, my mouth just acted."

"You might want to have it seen to, then. Rory's not likely to appreciate your scorn where Dean is concerned. I'm surprised she let the remark slide."

"Me, too, actually."

They entered Luke's and she ushered Tristan into an empty table, indicating to Luke to bring them coffee. She sat down next to Tristan, noticing instantly that his gaze was on Rory.

"So, do you wanna make up the conversation?" He frowned at her. "You know, 'Rory, what were you thinking?'" she said with a low growl and Tristan laughed. When he didn't join in, she changed to falsetto. "Oh, Dean, you just don't understand. I wanted to tell y-"

"You need help," Luke said, dumping two cups on the table and filling them. "What happened?"

"Well, I gave her the perfect opportunity to blame me and she didn't take it. I just don't understand, I thought I'd taught her so well." Lorelai feigned a sigh and Tristan laughed a little. "Finally; a little humour."

"Let's wait and see if Rory wants to kill me when she gets back."

Lorelai waved a hand dismissively. "A bit of grovelling, some coffee, you'll be fine." She noticed that Luke was watching the gazebo and glanced out of the window in time to see Rory storming towards the Diner.

Tristan followed her gaze and sighed. "I should just go."

"No," she said decisively and both Tristan and Luke looked at her questioningly. "What? I want a ride in that fancy car."

"You're shameless."

"Why thank you, Luke," she said cheerfully, as he walked away. A moment later, Rory slumped into the chair next to them. "Narcolepsy Boy a little angry?"

"Now is not the time for your humour."

"Narcolepsy Boy?" Tristan questioned, getting a glare from Rory for her trouble. "Never mind." He cleared his throat. "Coffee?" He said, offering her his cup and Lorelai give him a thumbs up.

"Thank you." Rory sighed and Lorelai reached out, placing a hand on her arm.

"Oh, honey, Dean will get over it. He can't control who you're friends with."

"I know that, he's just…I mean…" she trailed off and Lorelai noticed that Tristan was a little uncomfortable.

"You know what, we'll talk later." Lorelai said and Tristan's face relaxed a little. "So, how was school? Wow, it's going to be weird not getting a reply that doesn't include the words 'Tristan' and 'evil' in it."

"Who says it won't?" Rory asked impishly.

"Gee, thanks, Mary, I can feel the love." Rory smiled cheekily and he shook his head. "Actually, we do have some news."

"Headmaster Charleston ran away with the librarian?"

"No, but close; I hear he's doing it with his secretary."

"No! Really?" Lorelai asked as Rory swatted his arm.

"What?" Tristan said defensively. "I really did hear that!"

"Well, I didn't _want_ to." Rory said, horrified.

"You're trying to get dirty visuals out of your head aren't you?" Lorelai asked, a devilish grin on her face.

"I am now!"

Tristan looked a little ill. "Me, too."

Lorelai felt her face contorting as she thought about it. "Me three. Quick, tell me something good."

"Tristan and I are going skydiving?" Rory supplied.

"Now, what have I told you about jumping off of or out of things?"

"Avoid pointy objects?"

"And?"

"Not until I've made enough money to support you in your old age."

"Exactly!"

Tristan laughed. "I don't know if we'll manage to fit skydiving into the schedule, but our new history teacher wants to send us to the American Museum of National History in New York."

"They're hosting an exhibition of Leonardo's Codex Leicester," Rory added.

"The whole class, or just you two?"

"Just us," Rory said, smiling. "He wants to send the two best students."

"Wow, it's lucky you two chose today to be friends or that would have been really bad luck."

"I hadn't thought about that," Rory said, grinning at Tristan. "Otherwise I would have been running through your very irritating attributes at this precise moment in time. Moaning about how bad it was that you'd be ruining the experience for me."

"Thanks," Tirstan said dryly.

"Your welcome."

"So you like your new teacher?"

"Definitely," Rory nodded.

"Yes, Miles Ward, PhD, is definitely one of a kind," Tristan said with a smirk.

"Miles Ward? Who would name their kid 'Miles'?"

"Stop. He's my history teacher."

Lorelai grinned at her reaction. "Miles. Hello, I'm Miles."

"Will you please stop that?" Rory asked, hitting Tristan as he started to laugh.

"Miles is my name."

"Stop."

"So is _Miles Ward_ going to arrange the whole trip?"

"Will you stop saying it like that?" Rory pleaded.

"Saying it like what?"

"Like _that_!"

"What?" Lorelai asked, raising her arms a little. Tristan was watching them with a broad smile on his face, clearly enjoying the show.

"With the accent and the smirk and the _tone_."

"There was no tone."

"There was a tone."

"There was no tone!" Rory gave her a look and she raised her eyebrows. "What tone?"

"The 'I'm going to mock this poor man's name for the rest of his life and send him into psychiatric care in the process' kind of tone."

"There was no tone, just a _Miles_."

"You did it again!" Rory turned to Tristan. "She did it again!"

"I'm staying out of this," he said, raising his hands defensively.

"You did it again."

"I did not."

"Did too! That's my teacher. I can no longer go into his classes and keep a straight face. He'll _know_."

"Know what?"

"That my mother _mocked_ his name."

"I'm not mocking. I'm smiling."

"There was a tone. He'll know and I'll be forced to drop out of Chilton and made to join the circus and marry some small bendy man called Jaun, or die old and alone with a hundred cats. Leave his name alone!"

"What? It's a good name. Hours of fun. Miles."

"Stop."

"Wha-"

"Just stop."

Lorelai grinned and Rory mock glared at her. She smiled at Tristan who laughed at her.

"Wow, you two are never dull."

"It's a talent," Rory said, nodding sagely.

"I taught her well."

"It's a shame you don't unleash some of that quick wit on more people at school, it would certainly make the days more entertaining."

"I save my mockery for you."

"I feel so special, Mary."

Lorelai looked at the two of them, glad that the fight with Dean was being forgotten for the moment. "I have an idea," she said, bouncing a little.

"Uh-oh," Rory said, her eyes widening as she feigned fear. "Run while you still can," she said to Tristan.

"Funny. How about we go back to the house, order a little pizza, and watch some old reruns of _The Waltons_."

"Mom," Rory said warningly.

"_The Waltons_?" Tristan asked, cautiously. He had obviously learned well in his time with them; never expect a sane answer, you will undoubtedly be dissapointed.

"It's a mother/daughter thing," Lorelai said with a smile. "Come on, what do you say? I can go get lots of junk food and you and Tristan can go rent some movies."

"Okay."

Lorelai could tell that Tristan was surprised by both her inclusion of him and the fact that Rory didn't protest it. "Go on, crazy kids, and I'll meet you at Tristan's hot car in ten minutes."

"Okay."

Lorelai grinned as Rory perked up a little and turned to face Luke as they left the Diner. She had a new mission; to get coffee to go.

xxxxx

"Holy Mother of all that is pretty, I want one!"

"No!" Rory said, pushing her towards the house.

"Please?"

"No."

"Tristan, can I _please_ get one?"

The boy laughed, locking the door of his car and joined them on route to the house. "Tell you what; I'll let you drive it this weekend."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Yeay!" Lorelai squealed and began to dance, ignoring Rory's groan. "Why it's Greased Lightnin'!"

"You realise that she is going to be a nightmare all week."

"I don't have to live with her," he said smugly.

"No, but you will have to put up with me complaining about her all week," she replied in the same tone.

He shrugged and winked at her, causing Rory to blush. "I'll live."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows at Rory, filing away her reaction for later talking, but said nothing. Tristan looked up at the house and smiled.

"So, this is your house?"

"Not quite what you're used to, huh?" Lorelai asked with a grin.

"I like it, it's-"

"If you say quaint," Rory interrupted. "I will beat you around the head with a large stick."

"Did I miss something?"

"Your daughter's into bondage."

"So that's where my handcuffs went."

Tristan scrunched up his face. "Suddenly wishing I'd kept my mouth shut."

"You brought that one on yourself." Rory grinned.

"The idea of me in handcuffs disturbs you, Tristan? I'm upset. Rory, your cute friend doesn't think I'm hot."

"Oh, dear God, save me," Tristan said, closing his eyes.

"Mom, what did I tell you about dating minors?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Jail would be detrimental to my health; they'd make me eat green stuff. Plus, have you seen those uniforms? They're just _not_ pretty enough."

"If I open my eyes will all the crazy talking have stopped?"

"That depends," Lorelai said, grinning impishly at Rory, before turning back to face him. "Are you currently imagining _me_ naked, or Rory?"

"I think I'm going to go home," Tirstan said, his face turning a darker shade of red.

"Have we punished him enough?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know," Rory said cautiously. "Tristan, do you promise to be good?"

"If you make her stop, I'll be at your beck and call for the rest of the evening."

"Ooh, sounds kinky; go for it!" Lorelai said with a grin.

"Anything I want?"

"Anything."

Rory nodded. "Okay, Bible Boy, you can open your eyes."

"Thank you." Tristan took a deep breath, but still seemed a little reluctant to even look at Lorelai. "Your mother is evil."

"Why thank you, Tristan," Lorelai said with a grin and he laughed a little. "Not used to being beaten at your own game?"

"Not used to flirting with my friend's hot mom's."

"Ah! Rory, he does think I'm hot!" Lorelai smiled, linking her arm with Tristan's and walking up the stairs to the house. "I'm so pretty."

"You're insane," Rory said, following them. "But I'm the one he's got to please all night."

Lorelai and Tristan both looked at each other and turned to face Rory. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be cursing under her breath.

"So many things to say," Lorelai said, holding in her laughter.

"So many ways to say them," Tristan added, chuckling slightly.

"Is there any chance I'm going to live this down?" Rory asked, her cheeks getting redder by the second.

Tristan shook his head. "Not likely."

"Hah, but you have to do what I say for the rest of the night. So no mentioning it," she said smugly.

"You're right, Mary, however, there is the rest of your life."

"Not to mention the fact that _I_ don't have to do anything of the sort."

"Oh, look, house. Pretty house. Let's take Tristan inside."

"So he can please you? Because I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. This is my house, young lady and I don't think I want any dirty business going on unless I'm involved." She frowned. "And you wouldn't be, of course."

"Yeah, we got that," Rory said.

"Oh, look," Lorelai said, turning back around to face the front door. "Pretty house."

She stepped forward, pushing the door open and stopped in the doorway, causing Rory to bump into her from behind. The two sniffed the air for a moment, smiles slowly lighting up their face. Lorelai looked behind her, grinning at Rory, and noticed Tristan frowning. She knew he must have been remembering that they survived on takeout and what they could smell was most definitely home cooked food. She glanced into the driveway and smiled, wondering if Tristan had noticed that there was another car aside from the jeep; a car that he had likely seen parked somewhere in the school parking lot.

"Max?" Lorelai called, entering the house. Rory rushed ahead as Tristan closed the door behind them and followed. Lorelai turned to glance at him, almost laughing at the look on his face. This had the potential to be incredibly awkward.

"Are you cooking again?" Rory called.

Lorelai watched as Tristan cringed when the familiar voice replied. "Despite what you and your mother may think, Rory, the kitchen is not here just to look pretty."

"But it's where we keep the coffee. If it wasn't pretty our shrine would look out of place. The pink coffee mugs and the little stale cookies shaped like coffee mugs would be living in squalor."

Lorelai ushered Tirstan in front of her, noting that he seemed more than a little uncomfortable, but knowing that the meeting would have to happen sooner or later. The idea hadn't really occurred to her and she was sure it hadn't gone through his mind when he had agreed to stay for the weekend, or when he had agreed to drive Rory home.

"Mr. Dugrey," Max said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Mr. Medina."

"Oh." Rory looked back and forth between them. "This is a little weird, isn't it?"

"A little. I didn't realise that Mr. Dugrey was staying all week," Max continued, aiming his words at Lorelai. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'm not," Tristan said hurriedly. "I was just dropping Rory off."

"I missed the bus," Rory added, and Lorelai looked at her, trying not to laugh. She looked as though she had just uttered the words, _'I carried a watermelon'_, but was in no mood to figure out why.

"This is my fault. I didn't think to plan ahead." Lorelai smiled at them all. "So…this is a little odd." There was a consensus of nods and she cleared her throat. "Okay. Well…"

"Look, this doesn't have to be uncomfortable," Max said and Lorelai almost kissed him for his willingness to put people at ease, however, she figured the act might put Tristan off the idea of being there even more. "Rory, why don't you go get changed; you, too, Lorelai. I'm sure Mr. Dugrey and I can survive without you for a few minutes."

She looked at them a little warily, but they both nodded (Tristan still looking a little unsure). "Okay, if you're sure." She walked from the kitchen, mouthing 'be quick' to Rory before running up the stairs. She changed in record time and made her way towards the kitchen, stopping to listen when she heard Max's voice.

"As your teacher, I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to anyway. If you hurt her, Lorelai will kill you. And she will have a lot of help."

"I don't doubt it," Tristan mumbled.

"Then you're a perceptive young man, Mister Dougrey."

"I try."

Lorelai put a hand to her mouth, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. She knew that Max cared about Rory, but it was a completely different thing to hear him acting like a father figure for her. She had thought it would be strange, but, instead, she found it very touching.

She heard Tristan sigh. Part of her wanted to go in and make her presence known, but she was curious as to what would happen next. "Look, Rory and I are only just trying to be friends," Tristan said, and Lorelai could hear the awkwardness in his voice. He no doubt felt extremely weird discussing Rory with his teacher. However Rory trusted Max, he was in her life and Lorelai knew that Tristan must have realised that. "I don't intend to mess this up."

"Call me crazy," Max said after a moment, "but I believe you."

"First time for everything, right?"

"So it would seem."

There was an uncomfortable silence before Rory opened her door, causing Lorelai to jump and bump into the cupboard door, knocking something on the other side. Rory looked at her strangely as Max and Tristan appeared. She smiled, embarrassed to have been caught, before entering the kitchen. There was a short silence.

"So," Max said, clearing his throat. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Eh…"

"You can if you want to," Rory said with a small smile.

Tristan nodded slowly. "Sure. I'd love to."

Max frowned. "I could lend you a shirt if you want to change…too weird?"

Tristan nodded. "Too weird."

"_Way_ too weird," Rory added, her face contorting slightly.

"Way, way too weird," Lorelai said, looking at Max as if he was crazy. He shrugged and she smiled at him. "Okay, so how do we want to do this?"

"Well," Tristan said, and Lorelai noticed that his eyes were glimmering with mischief. "What do you want to do tonight, Brain," he asked her, ignoring the look of confusion on both Rory and Max's faces.

"Same thing we do every night, Pinky," she said with a grin, "Try to take over the world…'s junk food syndicate."

"The world has a junk food syndicate?"

"Of course. If there's one type of syndicate the world _needs_, it's a junk food one."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you ran it," Max said with a smile and she nodded.

"I did start it, but there was a hostile takeover. I'm thinking of underhanded measures to regain my position of Queen Bee."

"Yes," Rory added, "I miss all the perks that came with being the daughter of the Queen Bee. I used to be fed on a regular basis, now I rely on Luke, Max, and Jim, the new delivery boy, to keep me going."

"Well, it's nice to know my food is appreciated," Max said, grinning at Rory. Lorelai couldn't stop smiling at him and he looked at her, a little confused.

"Rory, Tristan, why don't you two go do your homework, we'll call you when dinner's ready. You should take the phone and let your parents know where you are."

He didn't look too happy about it, but Tristan nodded. Rory grabbed the phone before ushering him into her room, shutting the door behind them. Max frowned and looked at her.

"You sure it's such a good idea to leave them alone in there with the door closed."

"And you missed the whole 'pleasing her all night' conversation," Lorelai said, surprising him with a kiss. "God, I love you."

"I love you, too," he said with a laugh. "And, not that I'm complaining, because that would be stupid, but what was that for?"

She smiled. "For being…you. I heard what you said to Tristan earlier."

"I did wonder when we saw you lurking in the hallway after."

"I guess I didn't really think it'd be like this," she said softly. "I knew I was letting you into our lives, but it didn't really sink in that I was letting you into our _lives_."

Max frowned. "Is that a good thing?"

She smiled and nodded. "God, yes, it's a very good thing. Strange, but good."

"Okay," he said smiling. "I'm glad." He kissed her soundly and then turned back to the stove, stirring whatever it was that was in the pot. She didn't really care; it smelled great and he was cooking for her.

"So, I'm glad your key came in handy," she said, sitting at the table and continuing to watch him.

"Yes, it did," he said, turning to face her. "I'm glad I've got one."

"So am I."

She continued to watch him. It felt strange having him in the house, but at the same time it felt _right_. She'd never thought that having a man in the house would ever work, but Max seemed to _make_ it work. _She_ wanted to make it work. She wanted to make _them_ work. Max somehow fit into their lives and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Grinning, she crossed the space between them and slipped her hands around his waste. He turned his head to look at her and she kissed him. It felt right and she pulled back with a smile on her face.

"I'll be right back," she said softly, before running to Rory's door. She knocked gently and peeked her head in. "Rory, can I talk to you for a minute."

Rory looked up from her place on the floor, where she and Tristan had spread their books. She was glad they were actually studying and not…well, doing whatever she would have done in her room when she was sixteen and alone with a gorgeous boy. Or rather what she _had_ done. Tristan had removed his blazer and tie and unbuttoned his top two buttons, but other than that they both looked like she had expected; perfectly normal and un-kissed.

"Sure." Rory stood up. "I'll be right back," she said to Tristan, who smiled at her before turning back to his work.

Max looked at them suspiciously as Lorelai pulled them out of the kitchen and up the stairs into her room. She jumped onto her bed and Rory did the same, sitting opposite her.

"Well?" she asked expectantly. "Did you drag me up here for any particular reason?"

Lorelai grinned, feeling as if her face was about to crack. She couldn't stop smiling. Rory just looked at her, expectantly. Lorelai jumped a little on the bed, but couldn't form any words. After a moment, Rory's eyes widened and her mouth began to move as if she was trying to say something, but couldn't.

"Really?" she finally managed and Lorelai nodded. "Oh, my God!" Rory screamed in delight and Lorelai joined her, throwing her arms around her daughter. It was perfect and Rory was happy. There wasn't anything she wanted more.

"What is it? What's going on up here?" Max asked and they turned to look at the door, spotting Tristan in the hallway, looking equally confused.

"Eh…Rory had a…well…"

"You haven't-" Lorelai shook her head and Rory looked as if she wanted to strangle her. "Well, do it now!"

"But, I wanted to-"

"Now!" Rory said, giving Lorelai another hug before she jumped off the bed. Lorelai laughed as Rory threw her arms around a confused Max, before skipping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

When Lorelai looked back at Max, the beginnings of a smile were playing on his lips. "I'm beginning to hope here." When she didn't say anything, he took a step towards her. "Why was Rory so excited?"

"Because I let her have the last poptart?"

"Try again," he said, his grin widening as he continued to approach her.

"Because I gave her my credit card and told her to go to Barnes and Noble?"

"Try again," he said, smiling widely as he placed his hands on the bed, one either side of her head.

Lorelai smiled back at him. "Because I told her I was going to marry the nicest, most amazing guy in the world?" she said softly.

"Good answer."

"I thought so."

"Are you sure?"

Lorelai nodded. "I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life."

"Good answer." He closed the gap between them and kissed her passionately. "Great answer," he said, laughing and pulling away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he stood up, picking her up with him. He spun her around and she squealed. She couldn't think of many times in her life where she'd been quite so happy. And it could only get better.

xxxxx

**End of Part Four: Why it's Greased Lightnin'**

xxxxx

I realise that this also had a lot of Max/Lorelai, but it was from Lorelai's POV and, with the way season one ended, I had to include Max. I know the summary says possible Luke/Lorelai, but that will only arise further down the line. I'll reach a certain point (which I already have planned) and I'll put it to vote. I just want to make it clear that I _LOVE_ Max and I _LOVE_ Max/Lorelai, so it will also have a substantial part in the story.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to feed the author's friend, also known as the review button! ;)


	5. Laying the Smackdown!

**Note:** Wow…I broke 100 reviews with 4 chapters! Am soooo happy! ;) Thank you all so much for your reviews, I'm well chuffed with the response to this fic. Keep up the reviewing! ;)

**mochaddicted79:** You're right, I do owe you all! So here you go! ;)

**Jonie:** I can appreciate that you might not like Max, but I'm not sorry to say I do. I liked Max/Lorelai because I can honestly say that it's the only relationship I've seen on GG that was truly full of _passion_. Don't get me wrong; I love Luke/Lorelai, but it just seems to me that Max really complimented Lorelai. He was that compromise between the girl who grew up in High Society and the woman she had become. He was intelligent, witty, able to follow her conversation, amused by her, and, more than anything, he loved her; he truly loved her, not to mention that he would have been a great dad to Rory. So, yes, I miss Max and I miss the relationship, but I do love Luke, despite the fact that I feel there was more between him and Lorelai _before_ they got together. However, you're clearly entitled to your opinion and I'm sticking to mine! Hope it doesn't put you off reading the fic and thanks for your review!

**Just a quick note on Max:** He's in this for the long haul. I realise that most of you are avid Luke/Lorelai fans and I'm not going to deny loving the couple myself. However, this is set at the end of season one and Max remains one of my favourite characters. I didn't like how the relationship played out in season two, or how it ended, so think of this as my way of fixing a few of the things I didn't like. I stand by my 'possible L/L' and you'll all be notified at the point where I'm making that decision, or, rather, opening it up for voting, so don't worry!

xxxxx

**Part Five: Laying The Smackdown!**

xxxxx

There was a loud squeal from Lorelai's bedroom and Rory chuckled as Tristan looked at the stairs, his face contorting slightly at the thought of what it might mean. "Do I want to know?" he asked her as she bounced down the last two stairs.

She grinned at him and he returned the gesture. She'd never really seen him smile before, not like that, not without an innuendo or a smirk lurking behind it. She wished he'd do it more often, but she didn't want to analyze why.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say," she replied, giddily. "I guess it won't matter, I mean, you're _here_."

"I am indeed here," he said, and she noted that he sounded a little awed at the fact. "So…" he prompted.

"She said 'yes'."

"That's nice…yes to what?"

Rory grinned. "To Max."

"Okay, before I analyze the meaning of that allow me to say how weird it is that you call Mr. Medina 'Max'."

"Noted."

"Okay, so she said yes to…" Tristan frowned, and she couldn't help laughing as realisation dawned and he looked at her wide-eyed. "Did he propose?"

Rory nodded. "And my mom just said 'yes'."

"That's…great?"

Rory laughed. "Yes, it's great. God, she's so happy. I've _never_ seen her this happy."

Tristan ran a hand through his hair. "Should I go? I mean, this seems like it's a family moment and I should go."

Rory frowned. "Why should you go? This is happy news; it should be shared. Granted, it might be a little odd because you only know Max as your teacher…and, yes, you barely know my mom and we did only start being friends today…yeah, so, it's a little odd, but so are we."

Tristan laughed. "Yeah, I was beginning to get that."

"I resent that…or possibly thank you."

Tristan laughed. "You're welcome."

"No problem." She continued to grin like a Cheshire cat and he laughed; another thing she'd never really seen him do. "What?"

"Go on," he said, continuing to smile, "you know you want to jump, or dance, or something."

"I do!" Rory squealed and danced a little, before turning to look at him again. He was regarding her with amusement. "Okay, I'm done."

"Okay." He shifted on his feet. "What now?"

"Oh, now we wait 'til the sex is over before dinner." He looked alarmed and she laughed. "I'm kidding." She paused. "They'll at least wait 'til I'm asleep."

"Okay, I'm officially freaked out."

"And I am officially happy to have found something I'm able to tease you about."

He shook his head. "I can't believe you're not creeped out by this."

She shrugged, trying to find the words to explain it. "When we're at school, he's just Mr. Medina, my great English teacher, but at home he's just 'Max'. It's not weird anymore. I mean it was at first, because he was my _teacher_ and it was _wrong_, but now I know him and he fits here. I'm not weirded out because he's not my teacher when we're at home and I'm rambling."

"It's cute."

"It is not, you're only saying that so I'll stop giving you mental images of my mum and-"

"Okay, stop. I promise to never call you cute again. Well," he continued with a smirk, "not until you're happily dating me and unable to resist my charms. Then I'll call you cute and you'll sigh."

"Keep living in your delusions, DuGrey."

"Or what? 'You'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay'?"

Rory paused for a moment. "You know, I might have actually been impressed by that if we didn't have to study Shakespeare in depth at school."

There was movement behind them and Rory bounced on her feet as she turned around. Her mum looked happy and she couldn't help but be excited. She was instantly pulled into another hug and they squealed again.

"Is this likely to continue all night?" Max asked, grinning.

"Oh, you have this to look forward to for the rest of your _life_," Rory said, grinning. "Just think; you will have to put up with us _forever_."

Max laughed. "Good."

"Eh…congratulations, Sir," Tristan said, extending a hand to his teacher and Rory smiled at him. She knew it was odd, but she was glad that he was making the effort. She had never had to wonder about the impact Max would have on her friends, because she _had no_ friends at Chilton. He didn't teach Lane or Dean, so Rory had only her own misgivings to worry about. Bringing Tristan into the mix certainly made things a little more awkward, but he had only been there for about an hour and it was already less tense than before. It could work and she suddenly realised that she wanted it to.

"Earth to Rory." Max's voice broke her reverie. "Food?"

Rory frowned. "You even have to ask?"

"Silly question, I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven."

"Give me about ten minutes and it should be done. Are we eating in front of the TV?"

Rory nodded and bounced a little. "We got '_The Princess Bride_' and '_Labyrinth_'."

"So that's a 'yes'."

Lorelai looked at him as if he was crazy. "Of course that's a 'yes'. Did you not hear what she said? Now moosh!"

"As you wish." Max put his arm around Lorelai and pulled her into the kitchen and Rory grinned after them.

"Will you set up the movie?" Lorelai called behind her.

"Yeah, what first."

"Ooh, David Bowie!"

"Okay. Should we call Lane? She would kill us if she knew we were watching this without her. Plus, I think we have some news to share with her."

"Isn't she grounded?" Lorelai shouted back.

"Oh, yeah."

"Call anyway."

"Okay."

Rory moved to the table and began to rake through the clutter. When she found the phone, she looked up at Tristan, who was regarding the entrance to the kitchen rather pensively.

"Penny for 'em," she said softly and he jumped. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"So…"

He smirked. "I don't see a penny."

She rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket, pulling out some coins. "How's a dime?"

He shrugged. "I'm easy."

"So I've heard."

"Mary, Mary, Mary…are you flirting with me?"

"No, merely pointing out that you are the Chilton Bicycle."

"Ouch."

She shrugged, smiling at him. "The truth hurts. So, I paid up, your turn."

"It's nothing, I was just…thinking."

"About?"

"Your mom, actually."

"Not you, too!" She smiled. "My mom will be thrilled. Max might not be."

"I can take him."

"Maybe, but he grades your work."

"You're right; I can't really afford to fail English. Guess I'll just have to settle for her daughter."

"This morning I was first choice, now I'm settling material? I feel so unloved."

"I'd love you if you gave me half a chance. Come on, Mare, take me to your room and show me your ceiling."

Rory laughed. "How many times have you used that one?"

"First time, actually, how's it work?"

"Not so well."

"I'll work on it." He smiled at her and her stomach lurched a little. She ignored it. "So, did my ears deceive me or was Rory Gilmore flirting with me?"

"It's a disease. I'm sure it'll wear off."

"I hope not."

She looked down, feeling her cheeks heat up a little. "So," she said, clearing her throat a little. "You were thinking about…?"

He shrugged again. "Just about the fact that you have a great mom."

Rory smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she is pretty great." When he didn't say anything further, she couldn't help but ask, "You don't get on with you mom?"

He laughed a little bitterly. "I thought my nanny was my mom until I was about three. No, Rory, I don't have a great relationship with my mom."

"I'm sorry."

He ran a hand through his hair, before looking at her. "No, I am. It's not your fault and…yeah, well, didn't you have to call Lane?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She felt as if she should do something else, but she didn't know what. She wanted to say something to make it all better or even just to let him know that she cared. The problem was that she wasn't sure when she had started caring. She remembered when they had tried being friends before; she had liked that. There was something in his eyes that had made her feel like he enjoyed spending time with her. One day and she already felt as if they had been friends for a long time. It scared her a little.

She sat on the couch and quickly dialled Lane's number, refusing to think about it any longer. After three rings, Mrs. Kim's voice bluntly answered the phone.

"Mrs. Kim, it's Rory. Can I please speak to Lane?"

"Lane is not allowed to talk."

"Please, I have some good news to share with her and I would really appreciate it."

There was a pause.

"Five minutes. And no talk of boys."

"Of course," Rory said with a smile. She grinned at Tristan, who had sat next to her and heard the entire conversation. A few moments later, Lane answered the phone.

"Hey Rory."

"Hey, guess what?"

"Dean punched Tristan?"

Rory frowned. "No."

"Tristan punched Dean?"

"No…Lane why would you think-"

"I saw Dean coming up to you. I would have warned you, but I didn't think shouting 'Rory look out' from my window would do either of us any good. Besides, Mama called me for dinner a few minutes later, so I didn't get to see what happened. I was planning on getting popcorn…except we don't have popcorn. In the Kim house we have rice crackers."

Rory smiled. "Well, there was no punching, so no popcorn was required."

"There could be punching if you really want some," Tristan offered and she smacked his arm.

"Is Greek Boy still there?"

"Yes, Lane," Rory replied, rolling her eyes. "Tristan is still here."

"Hey, Lane," Tristan said, leaning closer to Rory. His breath made the skin on her face tingle and she held her breath.

"Hey, you realise that Mama expects to see you on Thursday, right?"

He frowned. "What?"

"Yeah, you asked her about Bible meetings and if you expect to show your face in town again without her hounding you about going to hell, you really need to go."

Tristan laughed. "I think I can manage it."

Rory looked at him incredulously. "You're going to go to a _bible_ meeting?"

"They don't call me Bible Boy for nothing."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Hey, stop flirting and tell me the 'guess what' that you started with."

Rory felt her cheeks redden, again, and vowed to get back at Lane later. "Remember the daisies?"

"Oh, my God! She said 'yes'!"

"She said 'yes'!" Rory squealing with her friend.

"That's incredible and I really need to stop making so much noise or talk time is over."

"You know if you actually told your mom that Henry was both Korean and a potential paediatrician, your parents would probably let you out of the house and most likely date him as well."

"No, see that's where you are wrong. Yes, my parents would let me out of the house and, yes, they would let me date him."

"Not seeing a down side so far."

"Then they would make me marry him. The deal would be signed sealed and delivered before either of us had graduated high school."

"Ah, that's not so good."

"Not really."

"So there's no chance of you getting over here for some Bowie?"

"You rented _Labyrinth_! Without me?"

"Sorry."

Lane sighed. "No, it's fine. Just remember you owe me a viewing when my sentence in purgatory is over."

"I will."

"Tell your mom and Max congratulations and give Lorelai a hug for me."

"I will. Bye, Lane."

"Bye. Oh, say good bye to Hot Boy for me."

Tristan laughed gently and again the breath skimmed across her face. "Bye Lane," he said teasingly.

"Oh, my God."

There was a click and then all Rory heard was the dial tone. "That was not nice," she said, turning her head to the side. She instantly regretted it. She was staring straight into his eyes, her lips barely millimetres from his. And she didn't know what to do.

"Dinner's ready!"

They jumped apart as Lorelai entered carrying two plates. "Our kitchen feels so loved," she said, clearing the table with her foot and placing the plates down. "Not only was the cooker used for something other than storing shoes, but the pots and pans are celebrating by having a sauna in the sink."

"Meaning they're soaking." Max handed her a plate as he entered. "Dig in."

Rory and Tristan slid to the floor, moving to the table. They started to eat as Max and Lorelai sat on the, now empty, settee.

"Where's the movie?" Lorelai asked.

"Still in the box. Lane can't come."

"Oh, we'll need to rent it out when her sentence is over."

"That's what she said. She also says congratulations to you both and wants me to give you a hug."

"Well?" Lorelai prompted.

"Use your imagination until later; I'm not moving 'til my plate's empty."

"Can't you just feel the love," Lorelai said with an exaggerated sniff. "Tristan, you love me, right?"

"I could if you want."

"Oh, my God, is this going to continue for much longer?" Rory asked in askance.

"I can last all night," Tristan whispered to her and her eyes widened. She smacked his arm. "You like things kinky, Gilmore?"

"You realise that we're sitting right here and can hear every word?" Max asked, frowning.

"Shh!" Lorelai said, swatting him. "This is better than the movies."

Tristan laughed and turned to Lorelai. "What did you want me to do?"

"Want? Who said I wanted anything?" Rory raised her eyebrows at her mother, who rolled her eyes. "Well, if he really wants to help, Rory, I'm not going to stop him. Tristan. Movie."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a wink and a mock salute. He stood up and moved to put the movie in when she stopped him.

"No, I changed my mind." She smiled winningly as he turned round. "'My name is Inego Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die.'"

"_The Princess Bride_ it is."

"Oh, Rory, can we keep him?"

"But where would he sleep?"

"I've got a few suggestions," Tristan said with a smirk.

"Yeah, me, too, we could build a kennel out back."

"Only of there's enough room for two, Mary."

"Tristan, there wouldn't be enough room for your ego."

"Come on, Mary, admit it; I'm growing on you."

"Yeah…like a fungus."

"How can you not find this more entertaining than movies," Lorelai asked Max and Tristan laughed, putting in the DVD. They settled back, eating their dinner and, after Tristan and Max were made to clear the plates and collect the junk food, began mocking mercilessly.

"I still can't believe Andre the Giant is in this thing," Tristan said with a chuckle. "Jason used to love Andre the Giant, so naturally I always supported his opponents."

"Naturally," Max replied. "I have to say, he was never a favourite of mine. He was too big to _actually_ wrestle."

"Yeah, but most of the old stars can't actually wrestle anyway. I mean have you ever gone back and watched any of Hogan's old matches? They're pure comedy compared to what's on now."

"I haven't watched in years."

Tristan shrugged. "I got my sister into it and she watches every week, because she decided she's going to marry Jeff Hardy when she's older, much to my parent's delight."

Max chuckled. "I can imagine; he's the one with the blue hair, right?"

"I think it's green at the moment." Tristan glanced at Rory to see her watching him with amusement. He looked over at Lorelai who had an identical expression on her face. He exchanged a look with Mr. Medina and frowned. "What?"

"Wrestling?" Rory asked.

"What? It's a sport."

"No," Lorelai said with a grin. "It's a soap opera _disguised_ as a sport."

"Yeah, soaps for men," Rory added.

"I'll have you know," Max said, raising his eyebrows, "that they are skilled athletes and just because some of the storylines suck does not mean that they are any less skilled."

"My English teacher just said 'suck'; I think I'm losing brain cells."

"Oh, Tristan, you don't have any brain cells left; those are just the few remnants of coherent speech you had left that were dribbling out your ears."

"Thanks."

"You know," Max interrupted. "I was defending you here, but since you decided to attack my vocabulary, you're on your own."

"Against these two? I surrender," he said with a wink.

"You're incorrigible."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't intended as a compliment," Rory said, but she couldn't stop smiling at him.

They continued to watch the rest of the film, periodically throwing out wrestling jibes at Max and Tristan. They had been watching for a while when Rory noticed a frown on Tristan's face.

"What?"

"Huh?" He jumped a little.

"What are you frowning about?"

He shrugged. "Just thinking about the movie."

"What about it?"

"Just trying to work out how much of a mug Wesley was."

"What?"

"Rory, tell me Bible Boy didn't say what I think he just said."

"I can't because he did."

"Ouch!" Tristan looked at Lorelai, holding onto the back of his head where she had just thrown her shoe. "What was that for?"

"This is the ultimate romance and you're _insulting_ my ears."

"It is not the ultimate romance," Tristan said decidedly.

"Yeah, I'm with Tristan on this one."

"You would be," Lorelai said with a pout. "Boys stick together."

"No, I just happen to agree."

"What's to agree with," Rory interjected. "Tristan is clearly insane."

"No, think about it, Mary; he spent years pining after her. He thought the world of her and she ignored him. He did everything she wanted and she didn't really love him at all."

"That's not true!"

"Then we'll have to agree to disagree."

"Fine!" Rory glared at him and he laughed. "Okay, then what is the ultimate romance?"

"If he says _Titanic_, we're kicking him out, Rory."

"Agreed."

"I'm _not_ going to say _Titanic_. Although, it's one of Ellie's favourites."

"Then what?"

"_Pride and Prejudice_," he said softly. "The British BBC drama."

"Good answer, Tristan, more brownie points," Lorelai said with a smile.

"I have to say, it's not what I expected you to say," Max agreed. "But I don't disagree, it's a great adaptation."

"I've only seen it once all the way through," Rory pouted. "We can't play region two, so we can't buy the DVD and when we recorded it, we only got the first part before _someone_ accidentally broke the recorder."

"I plead the fifth," Lorelai interjected.

Tristan laughed. "You should come over sometime and watch it."

"I wanna see!" Lorelai shouted.

"Or I could bring it and my DVD player over here. It's probably better that way anyway."

"Yeah, your house is very…'off with their heads'."

"You need to get a new phrase," Rory said.

"I know, but it's true."

"She's right. The only rooms I can stand are my own and Ellie's and that's because I decorated them."

"Really," Rory said sceptically.

"Okay, so I chose the paint and furniture and we _hired_ someone to decorate them."

"That sounds more like it." Rory patted his head. "See, that wasn't so difficult, was it?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a knock at the door. "You think Lane got out of the house?"

Rory checked her watch and shook her head. "No, it's nine thirty. If she was coming she'd already be here. I'll get it." She walked to the doorway, feeling Tristan's eyes on her the entire time. She had a sneaking suspicion as to who it was, but, given the present company, she wasn't looking forward to the meeting.

"Dean," she said as she pulled the door open.

"Listen, Rory, we need to talk."

She nodded, but didn't speak. She was still to angry at him. He had insulted her, her intelligence, and her choice in friends all within the space of five minutes that afternoon and she wasn't about to take it again.

"Look, I'm sorry I was…well…"

"Insane and jealous?" she supplied.

Dean laughed. "Yeah, a little." He sighed. "Look Rory, I trust you, but you have to understand how hard it was to see you with him. I don't like him. He wants to break us up and-"

"Dean, stop. He teases me, we flirt, and we have fun, but it's nothing more than that," she interrupted. She wasn't sure why it was so hard to talk about Tristan with him, but it was.

"_We_? _We_ flirt? You've been flirting with him?"

She sighed, cursing her choice of words. Yes, she admitted she had been flirting with Tristan all day, but admitting that to her boyfriend was likely _not_ the wisest of choices. "It's just a game to him, Dean, and it's not like-"

"Not like what, Rory?"

His voice was escalating and she shushed him. "Will you please stop shouting?"

"Why? You think he's going to hear me in Hartford."

She groaned internally. "Dean, I don't want the entire town to hear you…and Tristan's not in Hartford."

"He's here." It wasn't a question.

"We're watching some movies with mom and Max."

He nodded, his lips pursing in anger. "Right."

"Dean, we're just friends."

"Friends? Friends who date?"

She almost growled at him. "Dean, we're watching TV. Watching movies together does not constitute a date!" The moment the words were out, she wanted to take them back.

"Really? That's funny, because I seem to recall spending _our_ first date doing just that."

"That's…not the same thing."

"Really? How?"

"Because with you I spent the entire time nervous because my _mom_ had arranged our first date; with Tristan…well, my mom and Max are here and we were all just hanging out!"

"So your date with me was spent nervous and was arranged by your mom and your date with Tristan was spent having fun and was also arranged by your mom."

"Dean, it's not the same thing! This is not a date!"

"From where I'm standing, Rory, it's exactly the same thing. Only I'm the only one who seems to care."

He turned and walked away from her and, somehow, she felt guilty. Tristan was complicating her life, but she had known he would. From the moment she had agreed to go ahead with her mum's plan, she had known that it would be difficult; she just hadn't appreciated _how_ difficult it might be. But for the first time she had spent the day at Chilton with a friend. She hadn't been alone; she had had someone to talk to. Although they had only had two classes together and he had been at track practice during lunch, it was still better than it ever had been. And she wasn't sure she was willing to give that up…even for Dean.

xxxxx

**Part Five: Laying The Smackdown!**

xxxxx

Okay, it's slightly shorter than the other chapters, but I hope that's okay! I have the start of chapter six written, so hopefully it won't take too long in getting it to you. Once again this hasn't been betad, so if there are any errors or Briticisms, sorry!

Keep hitting that lovely little review button; go on, feed the Author's Friend, you know you want to! ;)


	6. Dance, Magic, Dance

**Iluvnsplushj (Ashley): **I…wow…I don't think I've ever really had a review quite like that and…wow…am speechless! And with me, that's hard to do. Like you, I share the Gilmore need for coffee; but I also share the need to talk incessantly at a million miles an hour, so to render me speechless and bring a tear to my eye, that's quite a feat. There will likely be a shrine built in your honour when my friends find out that I was silent for longer than a minute! I think I might have to frame it. You know, make a little wall decoration out of it, streamers, balloons, the works! ;) Thank you. Seriously. I mean I write a lot of crap sometimes, a lot of fluff, and a lot of fics that I really should spend more time on, but this one was one of the ones I wanted to do well, so to get a review that in depth and complimentary means a lot, more so because it was for this fic. I was very unsure about entering into this genre at first; it needs to be done well, but I'm very glad I did. So after writing a short essay here, I really just wanted to thank you so very much. hugs

**UnbirthdayGirl: **hugs I'd had a really bad day that day and your review made my night! g

**Igraine Black: **Thank you! It's so nice to know I'm not the only one that thinks that! Thanks for the review :)

**To everyone else, I love you, too, thanks for the reviews! I'd reply to you all, but we'd be here a while, because so many of you replied. Thanks for that, it means a lot.**

xxxxx

**Part Six: Dance, Magic, Dance**

xxxxx

The room was silent and Tristan couldn't help shifting in his seat. They had all heard the entire conversation and it hadn't been a particularly pleasant experience; Lorelai and Mr. Medina had been staring at him the entire time. A moment later there was a click as the front door closed and he glanced up as Rory appeared.

"I-I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay, babe, take your time," Lorelai said as Rory left the three of them alone.

"So…" Mr. Medina said, clearing his throat. "Will we switch movies while we wait?"

"Oh, yeah." Lorelai said as Tristan glanced at the screen. He hadn't even realised it was over.

"I'll get it," he said, feeling the need to do something. He crossed the room and changed the DVD, before re-taking his seat in front of the couch.

There was more silence before Mr. Medina finally spoke. "I'm sorry, but I've got to ask; _you_ organised their first date?" he said, frowning at Lorelai and Tristan chuckled slightly at the look on her face.

"What? It was cute!" She frowned as Tristan exchanged a glance with his teacher. "What?"

"It was doomed," Max said, nodding.

"Right from the start," Tristan agreed.

"What?" Mr. Medina shrugged as Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. "Look, I like Dean, he's a great kid, but _any_ relationship that starts with a possible mother-in-law setting up the date is not going to last."

"Ever." Tristan momentarily forgot that the man was meant to be his teacher; at that moment, he almost understood what Rory meant.

"That's stupid," Lorelai said, shaking her head and Tristan thought she looked more like a teenager responding to her parents than a mother. He couldn't help but smile; she was still a kid herself, but it added to her uniqueness. He liked Lorelai, he respected Lorelai. He couldn't imagine having a child his age and yet she had not only done it, but she had done it alone and Rory was the result. He _really _liked Lorelai.

"Tristan, will you please explain it to her?"

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, ignoring how odd it felt for a teacher to call him anything other than 'Mr. Dugrey' and nodded. "It's true. If you don't ask the girl, you're stupid, but, when the date is made, if the girl doesn't ask you herself, there's no hope. It means you'll be forever stuck in a relationship where no one wants to rock the boat. She'll never have the courage to just speak her mind, she'll never say no, or be able to find the words she's looking for because she'll be worried she says the wrong thing. And that means you're stuck in a passionless relationship with a 'Stepford Wife', or maybe Donna Reid; either way, it's a no win situation."

He shrugged, wondering why Lorelai looked so pensive at the mention of Donna Reid. "It's just not the best way to start a relationship. If you want something that lasts, both parties need to be able to have opinions and always be able to say what they want. Besides," he said raising his eyebrows, "can you imagine the humiliation of having to acknowledge that your girlfriend's _mom_ set you up?"

"So, how does the fact that _I_ asked you to join us this weekend and that _Max_ asked you to stay tonight factor into this theory of yours."

Tristan smirked. "This isn't a date and, unless the floppy haired bag boy that was out there is a figment of our collective imaginations, then I'm pretty sure Rory has a boyfriend."

"I'm sure that's never stopped you before," Lorelai countered.

"Touché." Tristan smirked. "So, does _your_ analysis mean that you think Rory thinks this is a date?"

"No, I was just saying."

Tristan laughed. He noticed Mr. Medina looking at him curiously and shifted in his seat a little. "What?"

"I'm just curious as to how you manage to have such a clean theory on long term dating."

He shrugged and glanced at Lorelai with a raised eyebrow; it was easier to talk to her. "If there was a class in dating, I'd be at the top."

"_At_ the top or _on_ the top?" she countered.

"Both," he replied instantly, amused by Mr. Medina's shocked reaction.

"Lorelai, that's one of my pupils you're flirting with."

"I know, but he's hot."

"Lorelai!"

"Well," Tristan said smoothly, "I've got the mother, shame I was aiming for the daughter."

"Yeah, about that, you'd better be good to her, friendship or otherwise, or I will find a way to hurt you painfully."

Tristan smiled. "I have been warned."

"Good, now let's get back to the flirting, I want to see how many shades of red he turns," she said with a devilish grin.

"Lorelai, that's enough." Mr. Medina said, closing his eyes, seemingly pained. Tristan was glad, however, to note that he was smiling. "Besides, I think I heard the bathroom door; I doubt Rory wants to know about this."

"About what?" Rory asked, re-entering the living room.

Before Max could tumble out with an excuse, Lorelai replied. "I'm flirting with Greek Boy and Max is turning purple."

"I thought red," Tristan said quickly.

"Well, yes, but purple is so much prettier."

"Mom," Rory said with mock reprimanding, "I thought we'd talked about the underage thing. Besides, didn't you just get engaged?"

"Oh, darn, knew I forgot about something."

"Great," Max said, placing a hand on his heart and acting wounded. "One night and I'm already forgotten."

"Not forgotten, just traded," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.

"For a younger man," Rory stated, as if it were a perfectly normal reason.

They all laughed and Tristan glanced at her as she grabbed the remote and hit play. She seemed all right, but there was something different about her. She had argued with Dean before, he knew, but this seemed different. He thought that she'd seem more…upset. More than anything, though, there was a look of resignation in her eyes and, whilst he wanted nothing more than to have Rory to himself, he hated to think that he had caused her that pain, however inadvertently.

_"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great…"_

They watched the movie much in the same way that the previous one had been viewed, only this time there was less mocking and more speaking along with the lines.

"_Thanks for nothing, Hogwart_!" Rory and Lorelai both exclaimed jovially.

"JK Rowling watches Labyrinth," Lorelai said knowingly and Rory nodded.

As the film progressed, the banter died down and, eventually, Tristan realised that Lorelai had drifted asleep and so had Mr. Medina and, objectively; looking at them as they lay in each others arms, they looked good together; happy. Something his parents had never had, not as far as he remembered, at least. He almost jumped as he felt something against him and he started when he realised it was Rory. She was clearly drifting off as well and had ended up leaning on him. He shifted slightly, giving her the chance to move, but she simply snuggled closer. He couldn't stop the smile on his face. Realising that she wasn't going anywhere, he manoeuvred himself into a comfier position and placed an arm behind her, letting her lean against him.

When the film reached the ball, he almost woke Rory. This was his favourite part, for some reason. The film had always terrified him as a child, but he'd still loved it and the ball scene was always his favourite. It was like looking at the society he grew up in; being surrounded by grandeur, but knowing that, no matter how grand and elegant the people were, there was always a hint of malice and fear underneath. Fear of being what they weren't supposed to, or fear of scandal, dear of a lot of things, but there were goblins in high society, too.

He hummed along with David Bowie, albeit an octave lower, singing the words gently into her hair, "_…though we're strangers till now, we're choosing a path between the stars…_"

"Like looking at your life; isn't it?" Lorelai said softly from behind him and he jumped.

"I thought you were asleep," he whispered.

"I was." There was a moment's silence before she continued. "You can always see the cracks," she murmured. "I used to love this film when I was younger. I always wanted to be stolen away to the Goblin City, because part of me needed desperately to know if anyone would come to get me. But I knew they wouldn't. More than anything, I just wanted to escape."

"Yeah," Tristan replied. He knew the feeling well.

"It has its perks, but it's not really a fun world to grow up in, huh?"

"Not really." He turned to look at her. "How did you escape?"

"I got pregnant."

"Ah."

"Yeah. Wouldn't advise it."

"Duly noted." He looked down at Rory and smiled softly. "Was it worth it? Worth the scandal? Worth what you missed out on? …Worth leaving it all behind?" He wasn't sure if he was overstepping some boundary by asking, but Lorelai didn't seem the type to mind and he really wanted to know.

"Every second. I'm not going to lie to you Tristan, it was hard. I missed out on so many things; I didn't even finish High School." He looked up at her and there was a wistful look in her eyes. "I was one of the smartest kids in my class. I was going places. I had my whole life ahead of me and I wanted so much to just get out of there. It was hard having Rory; it was hard leaving my parents; and it was even harder having to bring her up on my own, but I wouldn't change it. Not for a second. But that doesn't mean that you need something as drastic as a baby to escape."

Tristan nodded. "I know that, but…"

"But it seems so hard sometimes."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat not sure how to change the subject. It didn't seem to matter, though, as they lapsed into silence and continued to watch. Lorelai had fallen asleep again, but Tristan continued to watch, Rory snuggling against him occasionally, causing him to smile.

_"…the chance to never have a care in the world, to never have to do anything that you don't want to do."_

_"Anything else?"_

_"Why, me of course."_

_"And what if I'm not interested?"_

_"Impossible. I know you, I know what you want…"_

_"Well, I've got news for you, Jareth. I don't want you!"_

For some reason, the words hurt. It was a film, it was make believe, but it still hurt. The words were spoken by pretend people, by characters that didn't exist, but the words could have come from him and Rory and suddenly that hurt him. Had he really been that repulsive to him?

The words, '_I hate him!_' had haunted Tristan all summer and just being there, with her in his arms didn't make it go away. Because she wasn't really his. He could try, but she'd never want to be his, because she didn't want him. But that wouldn't stop him trying to be her friend. He had never really wanted for anything material in his life…but he wanted more than that. He wanted to never hear Rory Gilmore say she hated him ever again.

When the credits rolled, he didn't want to move, but he knew that the day had to end. One day…it was so hard to believe that it had only started that morning. Whilst the whole thing had started the moment he met her, Tristan knew that that morning had been the beginning of something new; something he could have had from the start had he only been brave enough to try talking to her like a human being instead of a conquest. He was making good now, he only hoped that he didn't mess up. Again.

"I think it's time we called it a night."

He turned around to see Mr. Medina looking at him. He nodded, wondering how to go about waking up Rory, when she shifted in his arms. A moment later she blinked and looked up into his eyes. His heart stopped.

"Hi," he whispered, wondering when his voice had ever sounded that low.

"Hi," she replied, blushing and pulling away. "I missed the movie?"

"You all did," Tristan said, teasing her.

She pouted and he wanted to kiss her instantly. "I missed _Labyrinth_?"

"We can watch it again sometime, Rory," Mr. Medina said with a smile. "Why don't you see Tristan out and I'll get your mom upstairs."

"Okay," she said stretching and Tristan did the same, standing and offering a hand. He pulled her to her feet as Mr. Medina lifted Lorelai into his arms, laughing softly as she muttered something about cheese and light bulbs under her breath.

"Your mom is one of a kind," Tristan said, grinning as Max and Lorelai disappeared upstairs.

"She is, but we kinda like her that way."

He grinned. "Yeah, I do, too."

She walked him to the door and they stepped outside. He wasn't sure how to act; it hadn't been a date, but something was making him feel like it had been anyway. He didn't want the night to end…he was afraid that when the sun came up she'd feel differently and things would be right back where they started.

"So…" she trailed off, clearly as unsure as he was.

"So," he said with a smirk as they walked to the stairs.

"Ooh, pretty!" she said, pointing up at the night sky. The clouds were drifting over the moon and the stars were shining brighter than he had ever seen them in Hartford. He had to agree, it was a beautiful night.

She sat on the stairs and, not wanting to disrupt anything, he did the same. They spent a while just staring at the sky, neither one feeling the need to say anything.

"My mom likes you," she said softly, as if speaking loud would waken the night.

"I like her."

He saw her nod in his peripheral vision. "I heard you talking."

"Oh," he said, not sure what she was getting at.

"I knew she'd never change it, having me, I mean, but…it's nice to hear it sometimes, so…I guess I'm thanking you for letting me hear it." He nodded, but didn't say anything, nothing needed to be said. "I also heard you singing."

He heard the smile in her voice and groaned a little. "Forget that you did."

"I don't want to." He turned to look at her and there was a definitely brightness in her eyes that he didn't think he'd ever seen before. Maybe it was just the starlight. "No one's ever sung to me before. I mean, I know you probably weren't singing _to_ me, but, well…it was nice. You have a really nice voice."

He shrugged. "I can carry a tune, I guess."

"Trust me, you can sing. I may have no musical talent whatsoever, but I know what I like and you can sing."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "Tristan…"

"What," he asked warily.

"Will you sing for me?" There was a slight teasing in her voice, but he knew she was serious.

"No."

"Please?"

"No." When she pouted he groaned. She had to know what she was doing to him. "No…I don't sing on demand. Maybe…just ask me again sometime."

"I will. Relentlessly; until you give in." She smiled at him before frowning. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. I'm not guaranteeing I'll answer, but you can ask."

She smiled, seeming a little unsure. "Did you go to PJ Harvey?"

He cleared his throat and looked at his hands. "Yeah, I took Ellie."

"Oh." She nodded. "I guess your dad would've been mad about the waste of money. Not that he doesn't have it to spare, because I'm sure he does, and I'm not meaning that-"

"Rory. Breathe." He smiled at her then turned away again, not wanting to look her in the eye. "My dad didn't know about the tickets," he said softly.

"What?"

"I paid for them out of my own money. I earn money myself sometimes; I don't want them to always have a say in what I'm spending money on, so I make my own."

"Oh. What do you do?"

He shrugged. "This and that."

"Somehow I don't see you working at the local Walmart."

He laughed. "Yeah, wouldn't that be the ultimate humiliation. Actually, I might have to try it sometime, could you imagine my father's face? Might make a good scientific test to see if it's possible for someone's face to explode through anger."

"You could further medical research."

"Start my own company."

"All thanks to the wonder of Walmart."

"Nice alliteration; could be my slogan."

"I thought so, too." She smiled at him. "So, are you actually going to answer me?"

"No."

"Oh," she said, looking at the ground, slightly disappointed.

He leaned into her slightly and nudged her shoulder. "Ask me again sometime."

She smiled. "Okay."

They sat for a moment, just looking at each other and he felt like he could look into her eyes forever. He'd been such a jerk before. She'd been nothing but a conquest in the beginning, but the more she turned him down, the more intrigued he got. The more she got angry, the more he became entranced by the fire in her eyes. The more he fell for her, the bigger a jerk he became. He wasn't going to resort to that again. Not with Rory. She was worth more.

"So," she said, grinning. "What did you think?"

"Of…?"

"PJ Harvey."

He shrugged. "Not really my type of music, but Ellie enjoyed it."

"I'm glad."

The silence became uncomfortable and he shifted slightly. "I don't want this to stop," he blurted out, almost kicking himself for opening his mouth in the first place.

She frowned. "What? Us being friends?" she asked softly, as she realised what he meant. When he nodded, she smiled. "You're so cute."

He rolled his eyes. "Cute? You couldn't have said anything else? You know, 'sexy', 'gorgeous', 'amazing', 'stunnin-"

"Arrogant, obnoxious-"

"Okay, okay, I get the point," he conceded, smiling at her. Now why have I been demeaned as cute?"

"Because you're nervous and that's cute."

"Would you stop with the 'cute'?" he asked, laughing a little.

"Okay, okay." She smiled at him. "I don't want this to end either, Tristan. I think you actually know how to be nice. You should try it more often."

"Why?" he asked, smirking. "You're the only one that doesn't like me exactly the way I am."

"Whatever."

He laughed. "Listen, I just meant that…I don't want us to go back to…what we had before."

"Agreed," she said decisively. "I think we should continue being friends."

"Good, I'm glad."

"Me, too."

They continued to stare at each other, smiling, until they heard a throat clearing behind them. They jumped to their feet, turning to face Mr. Medina.

"Your mom's asleep and I'm not exactly sure what the whole deal is with this, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea to call it a night."

Rory smiled at him and nodded. "Mom doesn't usually care; I'm normally the sensible one."

"I can see that," Max conceded.

"But it's okay that you came down."

"Good. I was beginning to get a little nervous there," he said with a laugh.

"I noticed, but you're allowed. New dad stuff and all that," Rory said, before turning back to Tristan. He didn't think she noticed the look on Mr. Medina's face, but Tristan did; the man looked very touched to have been placed in the category that gave him a dad-like status. Rory was very lucky to have parents who cared about her, even if one of them was her teacher.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"You will," he replied, smiling. He waved goodbye and headed to his car, getting in and quickly starting the engine. He looked up at the house and waved one last time as Max placed an arm around Rory's shoulder and led her back in the house after they waved him off.

"You are one lucky girl, Rory Gilmore."

xxxxx

"Kill me, please."

Tristan laughed as she dropped into the seat next to him, her head thumping off the table and her lunch tray sitting on her lap. "What happened?" he asked, exchanging a look with his friends.

"Paris Gellar is evil. I used to think you were evil, but, no, Paris got dibs on all the evil in the world."

"See, that's what I've been telling you for years, DuGrey," Brian said, picking a piece of lettuce from his sandwich and throwing it at him.

"Well, you were right," Rory said, finally sitting up and placing her lunch on the table instead of her head. She removed her backpack and sighed, half heartedly prodding the sandwich on her tray. "Word to the wise, don't piss Paris off; she will make you pay for it."

"You know," Graeme said with a frown. "I've never really understood that saying, 'word to the wise'. Surely if you're wise you wouldn't need someone to hand over useless pieces of information."

"Agreed," Rory said with a nod. "But not pissing off Paris is not useless, it's very much an idea to take on board."

"But surely if I was wise, you wouldn't need to tell me that," Graeme countered.

"Yeah, well, no one ever said you were wise, man," Colin said, ducking when Graeme swung at him.

Rory laughed and Tristan smiled, looking at her for a moment. It had only been a week and she had somehow managed to fit right in. On the second day of their friendship, he had invited her to their table for lunch, promising that his friends wouldn't bite, at least, not unless she wanted them to. She had reluctantly agreed. She had been at the table less that fifteen minutes when she had managed to argue Graeme into submission, insult Colin, start a small food fight with Brian, get along with Anna, talk literature with Dave, and talk Derek into finally asking out Karen Hayes, whom she had heard _did_ actually like him, despite his protestations to the contrary. All in all, his friends loved having her around as much as he did.

"So, what did Miss Gellar do this time?" Derek asked, stealing her Hershey's bar.

She glared at him and Tristan laughed. "Don't steal food from a Gilmore, man, they can be rabid," he advised. Derek wisely placed the chocolate back on her tray.

"She tried to blow me up."

The boys exchanged glances and Tristan nudged her. "She what?"

"She tried to blow her up," Anna said, sliding into the chair opposite Rory. She kissed Dave on the cheek before turning back to Tristan. "Don't look at me like that. There's a black mark on the Chemistry room ceiling. Mr. Michaels is not a happy man."

Tristan looked at Rory and frowned. "Are you okay?"

She sighed. "Yeah, it was only a little bang."

"Are you guys serious?" Colin asked and the girls nodded. "Excellent!"

"Yes, because me nearly being killed is excellent," Rory said, before turning to Tristan and pouting. "Colin doesn't love me."

"Trust me, honey," Anna said, "you don't want him to love you. From what I've heard, there's not much there."

"Ouch!" Brian said ad the table erupted in laughter. "And I'm not even going to ask how you know that, because Dave might hit me and, let's face it, he could eat me."

Tristan laughed before turning to Rory. "Are you really okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," she said, turning to him and smiling. "Paris was just being irritating. She didn't mean to sabotage me, just didn't stop me. Peter switched some of my vials and she saw but didn't think to tell me."

"So technically, Peter Johnson tried to blow you up."

"Not really, he's not that brainy; he was just trying to be funny, he had no idea what the reaction would be. Paris, however, probably knows the chemical reaction to every possible mixture of every substance known to man and she didn't tell me."

"She still giving you a hard time about us being friends?" he asked, feeling awful that he was still messing up her life.

"Yeah, but its okay. I got a few more friends in the deal and she doesn't like that either." Rory shrugged. "I've come to realise that Paris will hate me no matter what I do. On the upside Louise smiled at me today and Madeline said hello."

Tristan grinned. "There's not much up stairs with those two, but they're nice enough. Especially Madeline. She's spacier than most, but nicer than most of the people in the school put together."

"Unless you upset her friends," Rory mumbled, and Tristan knew she was remembering the PJ Harvey incident.

"Yeah, but that's also a good thing. Unless, of course, it was _my _fault in the first place." She opened her mouth to refute it but he shook his head. "It's okay, Rory, it's the truth."

She frowned. "Did you talk to her?"

He shrugged. "I might have said a few words. It's no big deal; I just wanted them to know the truth and stop bugging you. It's bad enough that Paris hates your guts."

"It's okay, so long as she doesn't try to kill me again, it'll all be fine."

Tristan laughed and turned his attention back to his friends. He noticed that Derek was looking at him, smiling at the way he had been talking intimately with Rory, but he ignored it. Derek was probably the person he was closest to, but he really wasn't in the mood to deal with the fact that his crush on Rory Gilmore was only getting stronger by the minute.

"So, what are your plans for the weekend?" Anna asked everyone, leaning against Dave, who accommodated her by wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer.

"I've got to go to my Aunts," Colin said with an exaggerated sigh. "If I come back with no cheeks it's because she's pinched them all away. I swear if I don't get a decent percentage in her will I'll scream."

They all laughed except Rory. Tristan nudged her and shook his head a little, showing that he didn't mean it. It wasn't entirely true, he knew, but whilst Colin would definitely be irritated not to get a cut, he didn't wish the woman dead.

"Party at Louise's," Brian said smiling and nodding. "Tell me we're all going? Except Colin, of course," he added with a wink at his friend.

"Kiss my ass."

"Why kiss what I could kick." The others laughed and acknowledged that they were going, all but Rory and Tristan. "Oh, that's right," Brian said, smirking at Tristan, "this is the Stars Hollow weekend, isn't it?"

"Yes," Tristan said, hoping his friends wouldn't take this opportunity to rib him about Rory. Whilst he had told them time and time again that his friendship with Rory was just that; a friendship, they could all see that he still wanted more, no matter how much he protested otherwise. They hadn't let him alone at first, not until Derek had told them to leave it be. But that didn't stop them from coming out with the occasional wisecrack. Especially Brian.

"We might be able to go," Rory said slowly and he turned to face her, a little surprised that she'd bring it up. The thought had occurred to him, but, given her history with Chilton parties, he had thought she wouldn't want to attend.

"You want to go?" he said, quiet enough that the others wouldn't hear him.

"It might be fun; I've only ever been to one party before," she said, her cheeks getting slightly red at the thought and he smiled. "I guess…I guess it might be different now that I know more people."

He smiled. "You realise that, with this lot around, you won't be allowed reading time."

She laughed. "I think I'll cope."

"Okay, then, if you're sure." He turned back to the others. "You might see us there."

"Cool," Anna said, grinning at Rory. Tristan knew that she was glad to have Rory around. Whilst Anna didn't really spend all her time with them, he knew that part of that reason was because she didn't like being around 'all the testosterone'. With Rory around, she was with them more; or at least she had been that week. The two girls weren't that alike, but Anna was more…real that most of the other girls at Chilton. It had never really bothered him before, but the more time he spent with Rory, the more he wanted to spend time with people he could _talk_ to. She made him different and he liked to think that he changed her a little too; brought her out of her shell or something.

"So what's this festival of yours like," Graeme asked Rory. "I mean is it dancing naked round a campfire, or barn rides and rolls around the haystack?"

Tristan smirked. "If Mary wants a roll in the hay, she knows who to call."

"Ghostbusters?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Funny."

"Thank you." She grinned at him before turning to face the others. She shrugged. "It's stalls and stuff. There's likely to be small children dressed as flowers, dancing on the gazebo, Kirk will probably spend most of the time trying to untangle himself from the giant snowflake; it's like a spider's web and Kirk is always like the fly, Taylor will spend the entire time getting angrier and angrier at the fact that the Winter display gets more attention that Spring or Fall until he slowly turns purple and passes out under the huge daisy chain, Babette and Miss Patty will probably get drunk and start singing songs from Gypsy and, while my Mom's betting that they'll actually get to the stripping this year, most of the town is glad that they tend to forget how to slur the words before then."

The table sat in a stunned silence for a few moments.

"You are a very strange girl, Rory Gilmore," Derk said with a smile. "I think I like you."

"You can't have my chocolate."

"Okay." He pulled his hand away as the others laughed. "So, is anyone welcome to this festival, or is it just a town thing."

"No anyone can come," Rory said and Tristan groaned.

"You should not have told them that," he said, looking at her apologetically. "You know they're going to gatecrash."

She grinned evilly. "You met Miss Patty and Babette, didn't you," she said and he laughed.

"This might just be fun."

"Yes, it might." She smirked and he noticed his friends look a little nervous at the fact that they really had no idea what they were getting into if they decided to go. "Who knows, Miss Patty might even get you back up to do some Dirty Dancing."

"Not this time. I'm saving my dancing shoes for you, Mary."

"I don't dance."

"We'll see," he said with a smile and she shook her head.

"I don't dance on demand," she said, throwing words he recognised back at him. "It would take a lot to even get me to _think_ about dancing."

"_Dance, magic, dance_," he sang softly and she smiled.

"Well…maybe if you ask me again sometime."

He smiled at her. "I will. Relentlessly; until you give in."

Somehow they both knew he wasn't just talking about dancing.

xxxxx

**End of Part Six: Dance, Magic, Dance**

xxxxx

Well, that went…off topic! I wasn't sure where I was going with it, but it wrote itself and seems quite content with what it became, so I'm just going to leave it be! I just got a job and will be moving about a lot in the next few weeks, but I'll endeavour to keep updates coming as often as I can.

Let me know what you think! Go on, feed the author's friend; that little review button is calling your name! ;)


	7. Don't Panic!

**Okay, sorry for the delay, but Harry-Potter-Week was quickly followed by My-Bloody-Computer-Won't-Frelling-Work-Properly-Week.**

**Simo72: **God? That me you're talking about :p Hah, hope you're enjoying.

**Choca:** Woohoo! I got nekedness! ;) As for Tristan's status as a male gigolo, I can neither confirm nor deny…yet:p Hope you're still enjoying and sorry the update took a wee whiley in coming!

**Cadenza at Midnight:** I can't actually formulate a coherent response, because…wow. I'm gonna email you because (a) your review definitely deserves a response and (b) I want to. Although, you do realize that your review has me totally ready to screw up now, right? I'm like, standing on the edge of a cliff and you just gave me a big push and said, 'hey, you, make sure it's still good, or I'll push harder'. Although I'm not sure why I'm there, because, lets face it, standing on the edge of a cliff is pretty weird given that I'm currently nice and warm in my house, so it would make no sense to get up and walk to the edge of a cliff; it would be a very long walk and I'm tired, so lets just say I'm standing on my window ledge.

To everyone else, thank you so much. I so want to start thanking you all by name, so I might do that next chapter, because it's always nice to see your name on a fic as a thank you. At least I always like it, so I should do the same for my reviewers, because you really have no idea how much I really appreciate all responses. 

xxxxx

**Part Seven: Don't Panic!**

xxxxx

Lorelai smiled and stretched, her eyes groggily focussing on the hands of the fuzzy clock by her bed. She groaned. Whilst it had been irritating enough that she had been waking up constantly throughout the night with visions of her mother chasing her with a kitchen knife (that had miraculously turned into a rubber duck at one point), the knowledge that it was actually time to get up and face the day was even worse. It was Friday. Meaning that later that evening she had to face the _real_ Emily Gilmore.

"Time to get up, sleepy."

She pulled the pillow from under her head and covered her face with it. "No, it's not. The daylight is a figment of your imagination. I can't see it, so it's not real."

Max laughed and she heard him cross from the door to the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight. A moment later the pillow was pulled from her grasp and she glared at him.

"Mean."

"Lorelai, you have to work."

"I can call in sick."

Max raised his eyebrows. "And let Michel handle the doctor's lunch you've been preparing for the last month?"

"Yes?" She groaned. "I hate you."

"Yes, you do, that's why you're marrying me."

"I plead insanity."

Max laughed. "Well, that I knew."

"And you asked me to marry you," she said impishly, "so what does that make you?"

"Clearly just as insane."

"More."

Max shook his head and stood up. "Come on, sleeping beauty. Breakfast's almost ready."

"Pancakes?" she asked hopefully.

"Lorelai, we had pancakes on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday when I made omelette, you complained because it wasn't pancakes, so I was late for school because I made you pancakes. Then yesterday, when I made you French toast, once again, you made me make you pancakes."

"Wow, you'd really think you would learn by now, huh," she said, pulling her elbows behind her and leaning on them.

"I made pancakes."

"I love you." She smiled.

"Love you, too."

Max left the room and she groaned, pulling off the duvet and getting out of bed. When she had thrown half her wardrobe on her floor in search of her new skirt, she began the search for her shoes. It was going to be a long day.

Fifteen minutes later she emerged downstairs and stumbled into the kitchen, smiling when a mug of steaming coffee was pressed into her hands. Max kissed her on the cheek and she moved to the table, sitting next to Rory - who looked to be asleep on the table.

"Why does Rory get to sleep and I have to be awake?"

"Because I was up all night studying for the English test our stupid teacher is giving us today," came a mumbled reply.

"In defence of your 'stupid' teacher," Max said, placing a plate of pancakes in front of Lorelai. "He _has_ to give you tests or he'll be fired. Meaning that he'll be penniless and living off the money his fiancé makes at her inn. If he has to do that, her daughter may have to give up dreams Harvard and drop out of school to help support him."

Rory glanced up at him and pouted. "That's not fair."

"That's life," Max said, smiling and nodding. "Pancakes?" Rory just raised her eyebrows and the plate was put in front of her.

Lorelai smiled as she polished off her breakfast. Things were all fitting into place. Max fit into their lives, Rory was happy at school now that she had friends, Tristan was slowly becoming a regular in the house and even in the town - Mrs. Kim even liked him since he had shocked them all by attending the Bible service the previous night - an event which Lorelai intended to tease him about. Relentlessly. And now it would all be ruined because of her mother. It was Friday night dinner and even bringing along a DuGrey wasn't going to get her out of this one. She was getting married and it wasn't for money or society; it was for love.

"Earth to Lorelai." She blinked at looked at Max. "You just missed a very exciting conversation."

"Yes," Rory said, nodding, "we went hiking."

"Canoeing," Max added.

"Horse riding," Rory said leaning on her elbows.

"Abseiling."

"Time travelling."

"That was fun," Max said, laughing. "See what you missed? Where were you?" he asked, turning to her. "Because it must have been pretty exciting to have missed all that."

"Mars; it's pretty this time of year. Although, I'm thinking of grabbing my towel and following my next biro through that wormhole, you know, 'so long and thanks for all the fish' and then I'll just whoosh off to the little land of biro for a nice tan in the home of plastic and ink, not all that different to a beach in California, really."

"And at least we'll know where to look if you disappear before the wedding," Rory said helpfully.

Lorelai smiled and held out her mug at him. She had learned that if she pouted slightly and looked at him a certain way then…yup, off he went. The cup was taken from her grasp as he walked to the coffee maker and filled it before returning it to her. Oh, yes, this man was a keeper.

"I'm going to get my things or I'll miss the bus," Rory said, standing.

"You know, you can ride to school with me," Max said, picking up the dishes and filling the sink.

"Max, are we going to have this conversation every morning?"

"Yes, until you accept."

"Maybe after the wedding."

"Okay," Max agreed as Rory went into her room and Lorelai smiled.

"She likes you," Lorelai said softly.

"I should hope so, because she's stuck with me."

"But she wants to be."

"Good." They gazed at each other for a moment. "So," he said, clearing his throat, "have you spoken to Luke yet?"

"Max, honey, I speak to Luke every day."

"I mean about the wedding."

"He knows we're getting married," she said offhand, looking into her mug. "Lane, Sookie, Babette, and Miss Patty pretty much took care of that."

"That's not what I mean, Lorelai. The man as a thing for you and you're one of his closest friends; it has to hurt that you haven't spoken to him about it."

"Luke does not have a thing for me!" she exclaimed, standing up. For some reason she couldn't look him in the eye.

"Lorelai, please." His voice pleaded with her and she turned to face him. He pulled her into his arms, looking at her intently. "Please, trust me on this. Speak to Luke, because if you don't you'll regret it. Your friendship will suffer and I know you don't want that. You'd hate that."

"I would hate that. Luke's one of my best friends."

"I know." Max leaned his forehead against hers. "That's why you need to speak to him."

"Okay, I will. I'll speak to him."

"Thank you." Max smiled at her, before frowning. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"If he declares his love, just promise me you'll come back."

She smiled. "Max, we're getting _married_. I love you and we're getting married. Of course I'm coming back." She leaned up and kissed him, smiling against his lips as he tightened his arms around her. She heard Rory mumbling something and then the front door closing, but she didn't care. She didn't want to stop what she was doing.

"Lorelai," Max said pulling back.

"No, that was good. Kissing was good." She pulled his head back towards hers and kissed him, feeling the laughter rumbling in his chest.

"Lorelai, I really have to get to school." Max held her at arms length, a wolfish grin on his face. "If we don't stop now, I won't be stopping at all."

"That sounds good," she said, grinning wickedly.

"It does. It does sound good," he agreed, nodding emphatically. "But I _really_ have to get to school. Think about it; Rory would _know_ why I wasn't there." She pouted at him. "Lorelai," he pleaded. He was losing the battle; she could see it in his eyes. A little longer on the pout and he was caving.

"Phone!" he exclaimed as it interrupted, saving him. "You'll have to get it, I have to go." He kissed her quickly, grabbed his keys, jacket, and briefcase and rushed out the door.

"I'll get you!" she called after him. "And you're little dog, too," she mumbled, answering the phone. "Gilmore house of pain, Lorelai speaking, how may I hurt you?"

"Really, Lorelai."

And the day just kept on getting worse.

"How many times do I have to tell you that's no way to answer a phone?" Emily said and she could almost see the frown.

"Gee, I don't know, mom, how many maids have you gone through this week?"

"I fail to see what that has to do with anything."

"What do you want, mom?" Lorelai asked, rolling her eyes. She picked up her keys and her bag, hoping she'd be able to get away quickly.

"I'm just checking that Janlen DuGrey's grandson is still coming to dinner tonight."

"Only if we promise to have him home by dark; it's a full moon and we need to lock him in his cage before midnight."

"Really, yes or no would suffice."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't he still be coming, mom?"

"Well, I don't know; his plans might have changed."

"Mom, he's still coming, now can I go to work, please?"

"There's no need to be rude, Lorelai."

"I'm going." She held the phone in front of her and glared at it as if it was her mom. "Oh," she said, pulling it back to her ear. "Set a sixth place for dinner."

"Why, who else is coming?"

"Oh, would you look at the time, I really have to go. Bye mom." She hung up amidst Emily's protests and let out a loud frustrated noise that wasn't quite a growl, but was too strong to be called a sigh. "Stupid," she muttered, realising that she would be fending off calls from her mother all day. Suddenly calling in sick was beginning to look good all over again.

xxxxx

"Coffee."

"No."

"Lu-uke."

"No."

Lorelai glared. "Okay, so far today I've had to deal with a broken toilet, Michel PMS-ing _way_ more than usual, I think he's going through his angry teen years later than normal, a group of anally retentive doctors, and three double bookings, all the while fending off calls from my satanic mother. The fact that the regurgitating toilet is the highlight of my day so far should give you an indication of how many of your limbs will still be in tact should you continue to refuse me coffee."

He filled up her cup without breaking eye contact, a small smile playing at his lips. The instant the cup was full, it was half empty as she closed her eyes and almost inhaled it.

"Really that bad?" Luke asked with a frown.

"The worst damn day of my whole damn life. Gwen Cummings has got nothing on me…except maybe alcoholism, but I'm not ready to rule that out yet."

"Am I meant to know who the hell you're talking about?"

"Come on, Luke, you won't even sit in front of a TV screen for Sandra Bullock? I'm shocked. When was the last time you even saw a movie?"

"I watch TV."

"I'm not talking about reruns of Star Trek, when was the last time you actually went to a movie?"

"What's the point?"

"Oh, no, here we go," she muttered, glad that at least there was coffee in front of her. Not to mention that she was highly amused by the frown on his face and the glint in his eye.

"I mean, you inevitably end up sitting behind some pimple faced whelp and his entirely too peppy girlfriend, who'll be making out by the time the opening credits have finished rolling, which means that not only can't you see but you've got to listen to those irritating smacking noises. It's a public misconception that to 'properly enjoy' a movie you've got to sit in a room with masses of people who do nothing but talk and disrupt it to the point that you can't hear it, you can't see it, you can barely figure out what's going on, well either that or someone will tell you the ending before you get there, it's over priced, the food is terrible, but they'll still make you pay through the roof for it, and, by the time it's finished, you're tired, but you still have to walk _back_ home to the house where you could have sat comfortably and watched it on your own in peace, so what the heck was the point in going in the first place?"

"Luke, Luke, Luke," Lorelai said, shaking her head and placing a hand on her arm. "You've just described the whole_ point_ in going to the movies. Where else could you get a free peep show, catch up on the gossip, spend lots of money on wonderful crap that will rot your insides, _and_ watch a film you already know the ending to? It's the perfect night out."

"There's really no point in talking to you, is there?"

"You'd miss my sparkling conversation."

"Insane ramblings you mean."

"This from the man who just spent the last five minutes ranting about _going to the movies_? Hello ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner."

"Shut up and drink your coffee."

She looked down into her empty cup and then back at Luke with a coy smile. "Luke…"

"No way."

"I'll be quiet."

"Impossible."

"Well…I'll…" she frowned, her eyes wandering to the side as she tried to concentrate on something, anything that would get the coffee pot to pour in her direction. "Hah! I'll stop singing."

"You'll what?"

"High on a hill was a lonely goat herd," she started, completely out of tune and at the top of her voice.

"Oh, dear God, stop."

"Lay-de-oh-de-"

"For the love of God, stop."

"Lusty and clear from the goat herd's throat heard-"

"Lorelai, please!"

She grinned. "What's it worth?" she asked, holding up her cup.

He glared at her. "How many have you had today anyway?"

"None." He frowned and she shrugged. "Oh, you mean _including_ the one you just gave me? Then only the one; today is being evil."

"How many?"

"Three?" she said with a hopeful smile.

He sighed. "Fine, but just so you know; I don't believe you."

"Thank you," she replied chirpily, sipping at the newly filled cup in her hands.

"I gotta know," he said, looking slightly pained. "Why, in God's name, do you know all the words to that song?"

"Easy, the Julie Andrews versus Doris Day weekend of 1995." Lorelai grinned at the memory. "You see, Rory was going through one of her Doris Day fads, which, as you know, should never really be encouraged unless you've have plenty of chocolate in the house-"

"Right. Why?"

"So that you have the energy to sing along," she said, as if it were obvious.

"Of course, silly me."

"Of course. So, anyway, Rory said _Calamity Jane_ was the best musical with a female lead, not including Judy Garland, because that goes without saying."

"Of course."

"Yeah, so I was like, 'what? Are you kidding, have you _seen_ _The Sound of Music_?' Which, of course, I knew she had because, hey, I raised her. So, we decided to duke it out. We watched both films one after the other, three times in a row. I tell ya, by the end of it, we were ready to lose that lonesome feeling and shoot those goats in the Black Hills."

Luke shook his head. "Let me get this straight, you made your daughter watch _Calamity Jane_ and _The Sound of Music_ repeatedly and no one reported you to child protective services?"

"I think Babette might have, but by the time she ran screaming from the house she was singing 'So long, farewell,' at the top of her lungs."

"I really worry about you sometimes."

They smiled at each other and, after a moment, Lorelai looked down at the cup in her hands. She really didn't want to have the impending conversation, but she had as good as promised Max. "So…"

"So…"

She looked up at him and smiled a little. "I'm getting married."

"Yeah," he broke the gaze and cleared his throat slightly. "I heard as much."

"Babette and Miss Patty cornered you, huh?" Trying to keep things light and casual was becoming more and more difficult, but she wasn't exactly sure where the uncomfortable air was coming from and she didn't want to analyse it either.

"Actually, Lane beat them to it."

"Way to piss them off."

"Yeah, didn't stop them telling us all again."

"It takes a lot to stop Miss Patty doing anything…just ask her ex-husbands." Luke nodded, but didn't smile or look up. She frowned and let out a small sigh. She had no idea how to fix this and she was cursing Max for making her talk about it in the first place, but she knew he was right. She hated that; she'd have to figure out how to stop that from happening when they got married. "So…what do you think?"

"About you getting married?"

"Yeah, it's a big step."

"Lorelai," he said, finally looking up at her. "What I think really hasn't got anything to do with this."

"Yes, it does, Luke. You're my best friend, next to Rory and Sookie, and your opinion matters to me."

"So, if I said I didn't like Max and you shouldn't marry him, you'd listen to me?"

"N-well, I mean-" She frowned. "Is that what you think?"

He held her gaze for a minute before looking down at the coffee pot and sighing. "Lorelai, I think you should be happy. If marrying this Max guy makes you happy…then that's what matters."

"It is?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, it is. If you're happy that's all I care about."

She smiled and he finally looked up at her. "Thank you, Luke." He smiled, but it seemed a little strained. Without her having to ask, he made up a coffee to go and handed up to her. When she took out her money, he waved her off. She smiled and picked up her bag and the coffee and stood up. He began wiping down the surfaces and she watched him for a minute.

"Luke?" When he glanced at her she took a deep breath. "He makes me happy."

She turned and walked out of the diner, knowing she should be happy that she had, well almost had, Luke's blessing. Instead she felt almost as if she was leaving something behind…she just wasn't sure what it was.

xxxxx

"Oh, my God, we're going to be eaten alive." Hearing laughter, Lorelai turned on Tristan and Rory. "Just because you have rich fancy parents and a nice, evil looking house, doesn't mean you'll get out alive. Oh, I know Emily won't kill you, but I'm taking you all down with me."

"Lorelai, calm down," Max said, placing his hands on her arms and turning her towards him.

"Calm down? Do you realise we're about to eat with Hitler and her husband?"

Max smiled, but raised his eyebrows. "Come on, relax. We'll be fine."

She frowned. "I just…don't want her to eat you."

"Well, then, we have something in common. See, what could she possibly be opposed to?"

"Oh, you so do not want me to begin on the list of things my mother opposes in my life. You might not be on there yet, but she will find some way to put this marriage on the list and, no, maybe it won't be you, because let's face it it's usually me, but it will be on there and I will end up drowning in yet another pool of disappointment at Emily Gilmore's feet."

"Mom, we need to get you inside before round two starts." Rory walked towards the door, taking Tristan with her as Max continued to rub his hands up and down her arms.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" she asked, almost desperately.

"I think you're doing enough of that for the both of us."

"Stop being so logical," she said with a mock glare. "I just…" she sighed. "I talked to Luke today."

"Oh." Max cleared his throat, obviously thrown by the change of topic and the fact that they were discussing it outside her parent's house. "And?"

"He said the only thing that mattered was that I was happy."

Max nodded and, after a pause, tentatively asked, "And are you?"

She smiled. "Very."

"Then can we please go inside and tell your parents that?"

She took a deep breath and slowly nodded. "If we must."

"We must." Max kissed her forehead. "Like you said before, Mr DuGrey might end up acting as a buffer."

"You do realise that you're eventually going to have to call him Tristan out of school."

"I know."

"And let him call you Max."

He sighed. "I know. I just have a little trouble seeing him the way Rory does."

"Trust me," Lorelai said with a smile, "that's a good thing or _you'd_ be the one going to jail, whilst _I_ was the one questioning the reason I wanted to marry you."

Max laughed a little before glancing at the porch where Tristan and Rory were talking quietly. "She really likes him, doesn't she?"

"I think so," Lorelai mused, wrapping her arm around him. "I just don't think she's ready to accept it yet. I mean, she hasn't even talked to Dean since Monday night and he really does love her." Lorelai sighed. "I just think she's beginning to wonder about her feelings for him."

"She'll figure it out," Max said, kissing her forehead again and pulling her gently into motion.

"I know she will, but I worry."

"You're her mother, you're supposed to worry."

"I don't remember that being in the description when I took the job."

"You were probably too busy watching cartoons," Max said with a grin.

"Wow, you're the only person who wasn't involved that I have ever heard joking about my age. I think I love you."

He laughed. "I get the feeling you hear enough about the serious side."

"I do." She sighed and snuggled into his shoulder. "Wait a minute, the car's the other way."

"Oh, but look at that," Max said with a grin. "The door's right in front of us. Guess we better ring the bell."

"I agree," Rory said, pushing the button as Lorelai looked around wild-eyed.

"There's still time, come on, we can run for it."

"Lorelai." Max looked at her imploringly and she whimpered, pouting at him. "Not going to work this time."

"Those eyes need to be sorted, we cannot get married while you hold that power over me," Lorelai said with a mock frown.

"Then in that case, we need to get that pout of yours removed or you will walk all over me."

"That's what a husband is for, isn't it."

"Eh…mom?"

"Wait a minute, I'm just getting going, I've got all these 'how many husbands does it take' jokes at the ready," Lorelai said with a grin, turning to face Rory. "And I'm suddenly thinking I need to trade them in for some 'hey, mom, guess what' and 'isn't this funny?' jokes. Hi, mom."

Lorelai grimaced, taking a deep breath as Emily Gilmore stared at her from the doorway, her face a blank canvas. It was going to be an interesting evening.

xxxxx

**End of Part Seven**

xxxxx

Okay, so the whole point of this Friday Night Dinner was so that Lorelai could actually _tell_ Emily about it, because I really felt for Emily the way she found out in the show, but Lorelai just wouldn't stop talking and then Rory had pushed the bell and, for some reason, there seems to have been no maid, so Emily answered the door. Oh, boy. Well, there went that. At least it was better than Sookie telling her and then Lorelai _not_ telling her for a while.

Once again, so sorry about the delay. Hope you liked it and fell free to feed the author's friend. He really likes you guys, the reviews keep him well fed for a while.

So go on, hit the little review button! ;)


	8. Next July We Collide With

**Okay, allow me to explain! My laptop was (again) with the Doctor for about a month. I finally got him back, but it has taken ages to get him all sorted and ready to properly use again. Hence, no updates until now.**

Haha, ten points to Gryffindor for lollygagjill spotting that Max grinned wolfishly! ;) Gotta love the 10th Kingdom. Jill, we seriously need to get you sorted into Slytherin if you're going to keep spotting stuff, my House could always use a few more points!

xxxxx

**Part Eight: Next July We Collide With…**

xxxxx

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch infinitely. No one moved and no one knew quite what to say. Rory glanced at her mother, not having a clue how to break the silence; luckily their guest did it for them.

"Good evening, Mrs. Gilmore," Tristan said, extending a hand and momentarily distracting Emily, who's face was still impassive as she digested what she had just overheard. "I just wanted to thank you for inviting me tonight."

"It's a pleasure, Mr. DuGrey," she replied, trying to smile and focus on what he was saying.

"Hey Grandma," Rory said, finally finding her voice. "Sorry we're a little late."

"Yes," Emily said, glancing at Lorelai. "Although, if you hadn't spent half the evening on the porch you might have been on time."

Without another word, Emily turned and walked into the house. Rory glanced at Tristan, who was, for the first time she could clearly remember, looking completely confused and ill at ease. Lorelai was still staring at the space her mother had occupied and Max was looking equally stunned.

"I think we should maybe go in?" Rory asked more than stated.

"This is your last chance," Lorelai said, not even turning to look at her fiancé. "Run now while you still can. Emily Gilmore eats grown men for dinner and, tonight, you're on the menu."

Her comment finally breaking the mood, Max smiled and shook his head. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"You're braver than I thought, Sir," Tristan said with a smirk.

Clearing his throat, Max glanced at Lorelai before speaking to Tristan. "Would you do me a favour, Tristan?" he asked, clearly finding it odd to purposefully use a student's first name. "Can you call me 'Max' this evening? It might help. I'm not sure _how_, but it might."

Tristan nodded and Rory had to smile at how uncomfortable the request had clearly made him and even more so at the fact that he was trying to hide that reaction. She nodded towards the door and they both entered, hearing Lorelai and Max entering behind them. There was no further movement and Rory turned to see her mother pouting at her fiancé.

"Have I told you how wonderful you are?"

"Not lately," Lorelai said slowly smiling. She wrapped her arms around his waist and Rory smiled at the picture they made.

"You're sensational," he replied with a grin and kissed her lightly.

"Just call me 'Samantha'."

Max laughed and began singing softly, "_I love you, Samantha, I'm a one gal guy_."

"You better be," Lorelai said with a smile. "I know a big man named Butch."

"Well, you can tell Butch he doesn't need to worry; I'm not going anywhere and you're all I need."

"Promise," she asked, suddenly serious. "Because I don't know if I could lose you now. We tried that once and I didn't like it."

"Neither did I." Max gently brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I promise."

Not wanting to disturb their moment, Rory turned to enter the main room with Tristan and caught her grandmother staring at the couple behind them. Her movement caused Emily to start slightly and she cleared her throat. It all happened to quickly that Rory wasn't entirely sure she had seen the smile on the woman's face.

"Ah, I see our guests have finally arrived." Rory smiled at her grandfather as he approached. "Rory, Lorelai, ah, Mr. DuGrey." He reached out a hand to Tristan and shook it happily. "It's nice to meet you again. I was just telling Rory the other week that I hadn't heard anything of you since her birthday. How are you, son?"

"Fine, thank you, Sir." Tristan said, suddenly becoming a different person before Rory's eyes. "My grandfather asked me to pass on his regards."

"A fine man, your grandfather."

Tristan nodded. "He speaks very highly of you also."

"I certainly hope to see him back at the club again soon."

"He's hoping so himself."

"But he's on the mend?"

"He has been for quite some time, but my grandmother simply refuses to let him out of her sight until he's one hundred percent."

"And so she should." Richard turned to his wife, noting her silence and Rory only prayed that the following conversation would be pleasant. Before he spoke to her, however, he spotted Max. "I don't believe we've met," he said, extending a hand.

"Max, Max Medina."

Richard frowned. "Rory's teacher?"

Max nodded. "The very one."

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I hope she isn't giving you any trouble in class," Richard said, winking at his granddaughter.

"I am the perfect angel," Rory said, smiling.

"Richard," Emily said, clearly having had enough with the pleasantries. "Lorelai has something to tell us."

Richard looked at Lorelai expectantly and she shifted on her feet. "Can we please wait until dinner?"

"I don't see what's wrong with talking now."

"Well, we're still standing in the hallways for one thing," Lorelai replied. "Look, there's nothing wrong, I…I just have it planned out and I want to wait until dinner. You know, something to fill those long painful moments where I'd normally be making my food talk."

"Well, if it's not important then-"

"I never said it wasn't important, Mom. Of course it's important, I just want to do it right, but you know what, fine. Let's just do it here."

"Really, Lorelai, there's no need to shout."

"God, I don't know why I even bother."

"Lorelai," Emily admonished. "We have company."

"Not for long." She turned to pull Max from the room when Rory called her. She slowly turned.

"Please, mom, don't." Rory pleaded silently for a moment before turning to her Grandmother. "Please, Grandma, can you leave this until dinner?"

Emily paused for a moment, looking at Rory and then Lorelai, before turning to look at Max. The man shifted slightly under her gaze, but didn't falter and Rory wasn't surprised; after dealing with Headmaster Charlston on a daily basis, the man had to have some ability surviving. However, Emily Gilmore was a formidable opponent. Luckily the silent interrogation was short lived. Emily glanced at Lorelai with the slightest twitch of her lips and nodded.

"Can I offer you all something to drink?"

Lorelai let out a breath and nodded, smiling slightly at her mother. "That would be nice."

The party made their way into the main room and Lorelai hugged Rory as they entered, whispering a soft 'thank you' into her ear.

"Welcome," Rory replied, before moving to sit next to Tristan.

The small talk wasn't as painful as it might have been and Rory was pleased to see her grandmother attempting to talk pleasantly with Max. Her grandfather was also involved, but there were moments when he would simply sit back and look at the couple, as if trying to make up his mind. Rory managed to briefly catch his eye and he smiled, almost imperceptibly, and winked at her. She had the feeling that the evening might not be as awful as they had suspected. If nothing else, the floor show was sure to be spectacular.

"So, Tristan, Rory, what's it like spending time with your teacher out of school," Emily abruptly asked.

"It's really not an issue, Grandma," Rory said with a small shrug. "In school, he's Mr. Medina, our great English teacher-"

"Thank you, Rory," Max said with a smile.

"You're welcome. And at home, he's Max."

"What about you, Tristan?"

Tristan cleared his throat. "It was a little strange, at first," he said, knowing that all eyes were on him. "But it's like Rory said, he's…Max out of school." Rory nudged him with her elbow when Emily finally relented and allowed Richard to steer the conversation to more actively involve Max.

"Well done," she said softly. "You managed not to choke on his name."

"It was touch and go for a moment." He glanced at Lorelai and Max and Rory took the time to study him when his attention was elsewhere. "He really acts like your dad, you know," he said softly, still looking at his teacher. A moment later he caught her gaze and gave her a self-conscious smile. She noticed that he always did that when he was being honest.

"I mean," he continued, "I really don't think you notice it most of the time."

"I do."

"Not always. I don't think you realise how much it means to him that you let him act the way he does."

Rory thought about it for a moment. "It means the same to me, I guess. I mean, I love my dad, but he's just not part of my every day life; Max has been for a while now and, well, I likethat he doesn't mind that I'm part of the deal. He wants my Mom and he gets me in the bargain, it's probably not what he wanted." She was very aware that they were sitting amidst a conversation that could end any minute, throwing what they were saying into the open, but Rory found that she didn't really care if anyone heard. Still, she kept her voice quiet all the same.

"I think it is what he wanted. You're lucky; he _chose_ you, my father is stuck with me."

"Tristan I'm sure-"

He shook his head. "It's okay, Rory, I'm well aware of my father's feelings. I guess I'm just lucky that my Grandfather likes having me around. He and Ellie make it worth it."

Rory smiled. "I'd love to meet them sometime."

"You will." Tristan chuckled. "Ellie's already desperate to meet you and, well…" He cleared his throat, and Rory was sure she could detect the slightest blush in the tips of his ears.

"Well, what?"

"My grandfather has wanted to meet you for even longer." She frowned and he looked away. "Never mind."

"That's not fair," she pouted. "Tease."

"Fine," he said, but when he looked at her, she could see an intensity in his eyes that she had never really seen there before. He paused a moment longer before whispering, "Piano."

Her breathing faltered slightly and she quickly averted her gaze, feeling her cheeks reddening. The memory came so easily with that one word. "Oh," was all she could think to say in response.

She was saved from having to talk further by a buzzing from her bag. She reached in and pulled out her beeper, but the message only caused her to frown.

Hearing Tristan sigh, she looked up.

"Will you please just answer him?" Rory frowned and he looked away. "Look, either put the guy out of his misery or at the very least turn that thing off. You've already growled at it at least fifteen times a day since you last spoke to him."

"I don't want to talk to him until he apologises."

"And he can't do that if you're ignoring him." Tristan frowned. "Did I just stand up for Farm Boy?"

Rory grinned. "I do believe you did."

"Your mom's right, something in this house does make people go crazy."

With the tone back at an equilibrium she was used to, Rory felt safe looking right into his eyes. Her stomach fluttered and she instantly wished she hadn't. Luckily she was saved by the maid's arrival and was the one leading the way to the dinner table. With Tristan sitting next to her there was little chance of her having to look directly into his eyes again…at least for a little while.

"Oh, guess what," Lorelai said with a huge grin, not long after their dinner was placed in front of them.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Guess."

"I don't want to guess."

"But that's the whole point of the 'guess what' game. If you don't guess then there's no what. The 'what' gets all left out and lonely. It becomes a town loner with no friends, no job, no reason for being. You've destroyed the 'what's reason for being. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"Immensely."

"Mean."

"Pointless," Rory said. Whilst the men chuckled softly, Emily frowned at her daughter.

"Fine." Lorelai pouted before grinning again. "But guess what." Rory sighed.

"Oh really, Lorelai," Emily said, placing her fork down. "If you're not going to tell us kindly refrain from making such a song and dance about it.

"I could sing and dance. Tristan, you'd be my back up, right?" Tristan laughed, but Emily was clearly unimpressed. Lorelai sighed. "Fine, since you're taking all the fun out of this. I met someone with a better name than _Miles_."

"Miles who?" Emily asked.

"_Miles_ Ward, PhD. Oh, Miles, we haven't talked about him in a while. _Miles_."

"The new History teacher?" Max asked.

"Oh, please," Rory pleaded. "Don't get her started." She turned to her grandmother. "He's letting Tristan and I go on a trip to the American Museum of National History in New York. It's hosting an exhibition of Leonardo's Codex Leicester."

"That sounds wonderful, Rory."

"Yes," Richard agreed. "I'll want to hear all about it."

"It's not for another week yet, but you'll be the first to know." Rory smiled. "Or second," she amended at Lorelai's protestations.

"Now," Lorelai said, "Can we get back to the fact that _Miles_ has a great name?"

"Stop," Rory said, narrowing her eyes.

"Stopping. But seriously. Guess the name. In fact don't bother, because you'll never guess." Lorelai leaned forward across the table. "A man checked in at the inn today and his name was Mr. Butt. Isn't that great?"

"Oh, now, that's just mean."

"Oh, it gets better." Lorelai said, nodding. "How can it possibly get better? I hear you ask."

"Yes, you do, how _can_ it possibly get better?" Rory asked, bouncing in her seat.

"Really, Lorelai, can't you leave the poor man alone?" Emily interrupted. "He's not even here to defend himself."

"The man's name is _Zaheed_ _Butt_. How can he defend that?"

"Good lord, that is cruel," Emily replied. Tristan had been unlucky enough to be drinking and Rory laughed as she patted him on the back. Max was chuckling and Richard was trying to hide his smile.

"Oh, I'm not done. Guess how much funnier it sounds with a French accent." Rory laughed harder as Lorelai tried to finish her story amidst her own mirth. "Exactly, it's a million times better when you ask Michel to speak to him in that peppy little French accent of his."

"Oh, you didn't!"

"I did. And boy did I laugh. And laugh. And laugh."

"I'm betting Mr. Butt didn't appreciate that," Emily said, suppressing a smile.

"He thought Michel was making fun of him."

"Oh, no," Rory giggled. "Poor Michel."

"It was hilarious." Lorelai grinned evilly. "Michel turned at least fifteen shades of purple before stalking off."

"The poor man," Emily said shaking her head.

Rory glanced around the table, pleased to see that her mother's story had successfully broken the ice. Lorelai seemed to sense it as well, because she turned and smiled at Max before taking a deep breath and looking at her mother. Rory's grandparents exchanged a look and a small smile before Lorelai began talking again.

"Okay, so, I have an announcement to make." She clasped Max's hand and tried to stop the huge grin that was threatening to engulf her face. "I know you heard some of what we were saying on the porch, Mom, but I'd really like it if you could pretend that you didn't." Emily nodded and she continued, "I may, or may not have mentioned it, but Max and I have been seeing each other, _again_, for some time now and…well…"

"Oh, for goodness sakes, Lorelai, spit it out."

Lorelai finally let go and just grinned at her parents. "Mom, Dad, Max and I are getting married."

For a moment there was no movement and no sound, but there was something that Rory had very rarely witnessed happening right before her eyes; her grandparents were smiling openly at their daughter.

"Well, it's about time," Emily said, taking a sip of her wine. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever settle down."

"Gee, thanks, Mom."

Whilst the words were the same ones Rory had expected to hear, the tone they were delivered with was warm. There was a brief hint of panic in Lorelai's eyes as she turned to look at her father. She waited until he was ready to speak.

"I'm not going to deny, Lorelai, that we had always hoped we would know and approve of any man you chose to marry," Richard began. When both Lorelai and Max made to interrupt, he held up a hand to stop her. "We do not know this man. However," Richard took a moment to just look at Lorelai. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy. I'm pleased for you, Lorelai, and I wish you both all the happiness in the world. Congratulations, Lorelai."

Lorelai smiled and whispered, "Thank you, daddy."

"Thank you, both," Max said, smiling at his future in-laws.

"You look after my girls," Richard said, only a slight hint of fatherly warning in his tone.

"I intend to."

"My hero," Lorelai said with a sugary voice.

Richard raised his glass towards Max and Lorelai. "To the future," he said softly, and it was a sentiment that they were all more than happy to echo.

xxxxx

"I still can't believe we made it out of there alive!" Lorelai said, jumping out of the car and inhaling the evening air.

"I told you it wouldn't be as bad as you made it out to be."

"I swear, my parents were not at that table tonight. They were replaced by pod people. Richard and Emily Gilmore are _not_ that nice."

"That's not true," Rory said, walking round the car to join Tristan as they walked up to the front door.

"Of course _you'd_ say that, you're the Golden Child." Lorelai reached out and turned the handle before walking right into the door. "The house is locked." Lorelai frowned and turned to face her fiancé. "Max, honey, why is the house locked?"

"Because it's empty," he replied, placing his key in the lock.

"We were only gone for like two hours," Lorelai protested as they entered.

He laughed. "Why do you have keys if you have no intention to lock the house?"

"Where else would I put my 'When I have sex it's so good the neighbours need a cigarette' key ring?"

"I have that," Tristan said with a smirk as he removed his jacket and sat down.

"There's a surprise." Rory rolled her eyes and flopped down onto the couch, lifting her feet onto his lap. He raised his eyebrows, but his smile betrayed any indignation he was trying to show.

"I'm hungry," Lorelai said, dropping to the floor next to Rory's end of the couch. The pillows that were still there from the previous evening's video watching cushioned her landing.

"You just had a three course meal," Max said with a laugh. "And the worst part is that I'm no longer surprised that that doesn't fill either of you up."

Lorelai leaned her head back next to Rory's and the two of them looked up at Max with matching grins. Rory then pouted slightly, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Max…"

He sighed, but he was still smiling. "Yes, Rory."

"I want pizza."

"And candy," Lorelai added.

"Yes, lots of candy."

"And movies," Lorelai continued.

"Something fun," Rory added. When she heard Tristan chuckling she turned her attention to him. "And he'll never manage to carry it all by himself, Tris," she said playfully, trailing off as he groaned.

"I should have expected that, shouldn't I?"

Max nodded. "Come on; let's see what we can find in town."

With exaggerated movements, Tristan extracted himself from Rory's legs and stood up to join Max. "You owe me, Gilmore."

"You have the pleasure of my friendship and that is payment enough."

"Am I meant to accept that?" he asked Max.

"It's safest." With a smile, Max leaned down to kiss Lorelai. "We won't be long," he said winked at Rory as he stood back up. "Come on, Tristan, let's see what movies we can find."

"They'd better be girl-worthy," Lorelai shouted, just before the door clicked shut. There was silence as they both lost themselves in thought, but it wasn't long before Lorelai spoke. "Some night, huh?"

"Yeah, and not in a bad way." Rory turned her head, smiling as her mother turned to face her.

"God, I thought they were going to go crazy," Lorelai said, "It never even occurred to me that they might be happy for me."

"It occurred to me."

"Oh, honey, that's because you're my Jane. You don't know how to think bad things about people without trying to find the good first." Lorelai continued to smile and Rory had to wonder that she hadn't sprained anything yet.

"Grampa's right, you are happy." She grinned back.

"I'm _really_ happy, babe."

"Good, you deserve it."

Lorelai paused for a moment, almost as if she wasn't sure how to phrase her next question. "You're happy, right?"

"About you and Max?" Lorelai nodded and Rory's grin widened. "I really am. I thought it might be weird, you know, because we've never even had dad living with us, not for long. I thought it'd be weird having someone else try to fit in where he was supposed to. But it's not."

When Rory didn't continue, Lorelai frowned. "What is it?"

"I feel guilty."

"Why?"

"Because it's not weird. It _should_ be weird, shouldn't it? I mean, dad's meant to be the one I want in my life every day, but he's not here…"

Lorelai sat up straight and looked at Rory intently. "And Max is." Rory nodded and Lorelai pulled her onto the floor and wrapped her in an embrace. "Oh, honey."

"Have you told him yet?"

Lorelai sighed. "No, not yet, but I will. I just wanted to wait until I'd told my parents and everyone."

"I can understand that. Mom, do you think dad will understand?"

"What? That we want Max in our lives?" Rory nodded. "Oh, honey, I'm sure he will. There's nothing wrong with wanting Max around. It's good that you do. It doesn't make your dad anything less than he ever was. Christopher will always be your father and you will always have that, but wanting Max to be your father as well isn't a bad thing."

"Dad might not see it that way."

Lorelai sighed. "No, you're right, he might not, but if you want to explain it to him, then you can." She turned Rory around so that they were looking at each other. "Sweetheart, you do not have to feel bad about this. Max loves you and he loves everything you let him be to you, whether that's just a friend or if you let him play dad sometimes. He wants to be a part of your life in any way you'll let him. It doesn't mean he's taking your father's place because it's a place that Christopher has never had in your life. And that's okay, too. Christopher's still your dad, just in a less than ordinary way. In the same way he has been your whole life. Am I making sense?"

Rory nodded. "Perfect. But that might just be because I know you too well."

"I taught you well, my padawan."

"Yes, master." Rory hugged her. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." Lorelai grinned at her, but it there was something in it that made Rory wary.

"What?"

"So…how are things going with hot boy?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, Tristan is not that good looking."

"I beg to differ."

"You normally do and often just for the sake of it."

Lorelai shook her head. "Nu-uh, not this time. That boy is enough to make me wish I was sixteen again. And believe me, there aren't many things that make me wish that."

"It's no wonder he has such a big head with people like you around him."

"I dunno," Lorelai said, "I think the way you look at him is more than enough."

"We are not having this conversation."

"We will. You have to talk about it sometime."

"No, I don't."

"Maybe not now, but you will talk. I have my ways. Have you spoken to Dean yet?"

Rory shook her head and quickly changed the subject. "Shoot. I forgot to tell Max about the guys from school coming."

"Okay, you've lost me. Are we having a party?"

"Not to my knowledge, but some people from school might be coming to the Festival tomorrow and I meant to warn Max." Rory frowned. "In fact, warning them might have been an idea, too."

"You mean Max doesn't know he's going to be surrounded by students and the students don't know their teacher's going to be there?"

"Pretty much."

Lorelai grinned evilly. "Then let's not tell anyone."

"Mom!"

"What? It'll be hilarious. Can you imagine the looks on their faces?"

"Listening to you fawning over both their teacher _and_ Tristan will be more than enough to scar them for life…actually, with this lot, that might not be true."

"So, you're liking his friends."

"Yeah," Rory said, nodding. "I'm a little surprised, but I actually like spending time with them. Colin is a bit of a snob, but he's fun sometimes as well. I think I like having them around. Anna's nice, too, but she's not always there."

"So it's just you hanging with a bunch of gorgeous guys every day?" Lorelai asked.

"Pretty much."

"Now, that's my girl!"

"I still think we should tell Max."

"Nah," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "Much more fun this way."

"Fine." Rory frowned and sighed. "How long till pizza."

"Not long." Lorelai grinned. "Wanna play a game?"

xxxxx

"William Shakespeare," Rory said with a smile.

"Shirley Temple."

"Tennessee Williams."

"William Shatner, a God amongst men and aliens alike."

"Stephen King, what are you, Luke?"

"Kirsten Dunst, what's with all the authors?" Lorelai retorted

"We're back," Max's voice drifted into the living room as Tristan closed the door behind them.

"Demi Moore, authors are also famous, therefore I'm not breaking any rules."

"Mary Queen of Scots, fine, then you won't mind if we start doubles."

"Susan Surandon and not at all, although, I don't think 'Scots' should count as her surname."

"Sylvester Stalone, can we please cut the commentary?" Lorelai replied.

"Steven Speilberg, you started it."

"Steven Seagal, did not."

"It's like watching a tennis match," Tristan commented as they entered the room and Max nodded.

"Steven Sondheim."

"Sharon Stone," Lorelai crooned.

"Sissy Spacek."

"Sss-Sarumpta Serena."

"What?" Rory asked, frowning.

"Hah, I win!"

"How do you win?"

"You broke the flow. I win."

"Sarumpta Serena?" Rory repeated. "You do _not_ win."

"Sure I do," Lorelai said in askance. "She's the Spanish woman in those Sharpe films with Sean Bean. Ah, Sean Bean; isn't he dreamy."

"Don't think you can side track me with Sean Bean's being dreamy-"

"So you admit that he's dreamy."

"I never denied that he's dreamy. I do, however, deny that you win."

"Don't say that, you'll hurt Serumpta's feelings," Lorelai protested.

"I think you mean I'll hurt _A_ssumpta's feelings."

"You admit you're hurting her feelings then?"

"I think you're the one that hurt her feelings by forgetting her name."

"Neh, it's a stupid name anyway. I don't like this game anymore."

"Because you lost." Rory grinned.

"No, because we have food and I'd rather eat."

"Ooh!" Rory smiled as Max and Tristan finally came all the way into the room. "Pizza."

"Hand it over," Lorelai demanded. "Hah! Marilyn Munroe. I do win."

"How do you win?"

"Doubles."

"We were on 'S'!"

"And M comes next."

"How does M come next?" Rory cried.

"S, right after D, right before M."

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked as Tristan snickered.

"Ah, Mary, Mary, Mary. Always the innocent," he said, jumping out of the way of her hand.

Half an hour, two pizzas, a bag of marshmallows, a ton of chocolate, and three bags of M&M's later, Rory was once again lying on the couch with her feet on Tristan's lap, her mother and Max sitting on the floor next to them. They had been 'gossiping' about her school mates, despite Max's constant requests that they change the subject before he learned more than he ever wanted to know about his students. However, that was half the fun.

"So, wait, there were _three_ college guys in the elevator with her?"

"So goes the gossip," Tristan said, helping himself to another red vine.

"Wow," Lorelai said, "That brings back memories. I'm guessing they were Aerosmith-ing it." Rory frowned and she continued, "You know, 'living it up when she's going-'."

"Oh my God! Stop!"

Tristan laughed. "Funny thing is she's probably right." Rory glared at him. "You do remember we're talking about Sienna, right?"

"I'm sure she does," Max interrupted, "as do I. I have to teach her and I'd really rather this conversation took a turn in the immediate future."

"Speaking of, some people from school may be coming to the End of Summer Festival tomorrow," Rory said, ignoring Lorelai elbowing her.

"Rory! It was meant to be a surprise."

"You were being mean."

"I'm not mean!" Lorelai cried. "I'm hurt that you would say that. Max, you'll defend me, right. I'm not mean."

"Of course not," he replied. "Thanks for the warning, Rory," he said a moment later over the top of Lorelai's head.

"Ooh, Rory, are Tristan's friends pretty?"

"They're guys," Tristan replied.

"I know _that_. But are they _pretty_?"

"They're guys," Tristan repeated.

"Well, you're a guy and you're pretty," Lorelai said with a teasing grin.

"I prefer ruggedly handsome, thank you."

"Oh, Rory, Tristan's so pretty," she sang, "Hang him on a hook and let me play with him?"

"I am now officially never letting you watch '_Hocus Pocus_' again," Rory said, rolling her eyes.

Lorelai grinned. "A-muck! A-muck! A-muck! A-muck!"

"Oh, boy."

"A Boy!"

"Stop with the quoting already."

"Blasphemy!" Lorelai threw a pillow at her.

"Don't worry," Max said, laughing, "I'll make sure she's on her best behaviour tomorrow."

"Don't," Tristan said, smirking. "That's half the reason they're coming."

"Hah! I'm worth coming so see." Lorelai stuck her tongue out.

"Yeah, well, people also stop to watch car wrecks, they can't help it," Rory quipped.

"My own daughter! I think I'm dying of a broken heart. I have chest pains. Oh, the pain! I'm dying because my daughter doesn't love me!"

"Please do so quietly, you're spoiling _Flight of the Navigator_."

"Ma-ax." Lorelai pouted. "Rory's being mean. She doesn't love me."

"It's okay, I love you," Max said with a chuckle, pulling her into his arms. They settled back against the couch to watch the television and Rory smiled as she watched them. Lorelai was right, it wasn't wrong to want Max in her life, and she _did_ want him in it. She just hoped that everything would happen right for once and that her mother would be happy. She hoped that they could have a real family, even if it wasn't with her dad the way she'd dreamed when she was little. She knew Max would always be there for them.

And as for the other things she needed to work out… She glanced at Tristan. Well, everything else would fit into place eventually.

xxxxx

**End of Part Eight: Next July We Collide With…**

xxxxx

Okay, so as you may be able to tell, one of the few things I didn't like in the show was the way Emily found out about Lorelai and Max being engaged, so I decided to do it a little differently. I don't think it's out of character for them to be happy for her, because they sometimes do put that first, besides, Max is slightly more in their society than Luke, so I see them being more easily accepting of him. Don't however, think that it's plain sailing from here! I just wanted to have this.

Again, I'm sorry for the delay on this one, hopefully it won't be long before there's more. Hope you're still enjoying it and can I please reiterate once more how happy I am that so many of you are saying you _like_ that Max and Lorelai are together in this one! I'm not completely ruling out Java Junkie for later on, as I did mention it before, but for now at least, I'm running with this. Also, the main focus will be Rory and Tristan, I side stepped here because Max and Lorelai getting married is a big deal for Rory too.


	9. We're Not Worthy!

**Author's Note:** I wish I had a way to apologise for having taken so long to update this fic, but I know that only updates are really enough to do that. I can't blame it all on computer problems this time, I'm afraid, I've just had issues with Gilmore Girls of late. I'm completely disillusioned with it at the moment. I miss the early seasons. I miss Max, I miss Lorelai being in_'It should be more than that, it should be planned, it should be a thousand yellow daisies'_ kind of in love. I hate that they repeatedly shoot my ship in the head by having Lorelai proclaim that she didn't love Max. Bollocks. She did. I say she did. As for Luke/Lorelai, it's pissing me off. I was about the only person happy at the events at the end of season 6, which I will refrain from mentioning in case I spoil someone. Anyway, due to my annoyance, I was finally able to coax my muses into producing something. Perhaps I can lose myself in my own GG reality.

**Note 2: **Am soooo confused! Everyone keeps asking for Finn's reactions, or Finn/Lorelai interaction…this is set after season one. Are you guys mixing up this with _Houston, We Have A Problem_? Or is this just an outcry for the ever-shag-able Finn to make an appearance at Chilton? ;) Or perhaps the fact that one of my characters is called Colin?

xxxxx

**Part Nine: We're not Worthy!**

xxxxx

Tristan stirred as he slowly drifted awake. He stretched his side, wincing as his muscles protested. He had been assured that the camp bed, whilst having cost a mere fifty cents to reclaim, was quite comfortable. However, given that he was still sitting on the couch, his head at an awkward angle, with Rory Gilmore sprawled across his lap, his discomfort was understandable.

He took a moment to glance around the room, quietly getting his bearings. Lorelai and Mr. Medina had gone upstairs about half way through the second part of Pride and Prejudice - which he had packed into his car along with his DVD player - or rather Mr. Medina had carried Lorelai up the stairs, but it had taken at least another half an hour for Rory to follow her mother's example and fall asleep. He had toyed with waking her, but the longer he looked at her sleeping form, the less he wanted to. Instead he had watched her until he had fallen asleep and, at some point during the night, she had shifted until she was wrapped in his arms.

He groaned, realising he was turning into one of those guys he mocked mercilessly. Granted, he figured that Rory was worth it, but she wasn't his to watch. Knowing that she had yet to talk to her boyfriend wasn't helping his resolve to remember that, though.

Carefully he shifted Rory from his lap and stood up, stretching out his aching muscles. He checked his watch and groaned at the time, knowing that, regardless of the hour, he was up for the day. He walked into the hallway, lifted his backpack and went into Rory's room to change into his running clothes.

What little he had seen of Stars Hollow, despite Rory's tour having been rather thorough, didn't quite come close to the way it looked this early in the morning. He jogged at a steady pace through the empty streets, slowing down only when he reached the gazebo. He stretched and took a few deep breaths, looking around. He couldn't help smiling. Quaint might be offensive to the residents, but it was true, serene worked as well. It was something Tristan had seen little of in his life and, even if it didn't last long, he wanted to make the most of it.

He turned to watch a lone truck stop on the corner outside Luke's and, on seeing the owner come out to take in a delivery, he jogged in that direction.

"Morning," he said, almost cautiously. It wasn't often he that felt unsure of himself – he had an image to maintain, after all – but Luke Danes was a rather scary guy. "Need a hand?"

Luke eyed him like a dog staring at a piece of meat and he resisted the urge to turn and run. After a moment, however, the man nodded.

"Grab the last box?" Luke asked, although it was sounded more like a demand, and signed for the order.

It didn't take long between the two of them to get everything inside and Tristan didn't offer to help opening the diner, it just sort of worked out that way. He pulled the chairs off the tables and set out the menus, knowing that Luke was throwing him curious glances every now and then. By the time everything was ready, a few customers were already seated and drinking their morning coffees at the tables.

"I better get going," Tristan said, watching as Cesar rushed in the door (late) with his apron waving behind him.

"Here, take these," Luke said, handing Tristan a bag of food and a tray of coffee. "It should feed the masses for now, at least." Tristan figured it was the closest he'd get to a friendly thank you from the man and smiled.

"Thanks, I'll probably see you later."

"I supply the coffee," Luke said by way of answer and Tristan chuckled, nodding. Where there was coffee, there were Gilmore's; the likelihood was that Tristan would be back.

A man he assumed to be Taylor Doose was already ordering half a dozen people around the centre of town, but, aside from a lot of mess, there wasn't really much in the way of decoration yet. It didn't take Tristan long to get back to the house, the smell of coffee and donuts having urged him to walk faster.

"Lucy, I'm home," he called, entering through the back door. Unfortunately, the figure he had briefly seen through the window and assumed to be one of the Gilmores' was, in fact, his English teacher.

Mr. Medina chuckled and relieved him of his load. "Good morning to you, too, Tristan."

"Yeah," he said uncomfortably, hating the blush that was rising in his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. "They up yet?"

Max laughed. "It's Saturday and it's not noon."

Tristan smiled and nodded. "Stupid question."

"Good run?" Max asked, setting the donuts, muffins, and pastries Luke had supplied them with onto a plate.

"Yeah, actually. I definitely prefer this place."

"It's certainly got something, hasn't it?"

Tristan nodded and was grateful that the uncomfortable silence that had been looming before them was broken before it had even begun. Rory entered the kitchen nose first, eyes still closed.

"Coffee."

Both men laughed as Tristan placed a cup of coffee into Rory's outstretched hand. "I think you may have a problem, Gilmore."

"Nope, she has coffee," Lorelai said, entering close on her daughter's heels. "Which is so much more fun than a problem." She grabbed the nearest cup, which happened to be the one in Rory's hand, and practically inhaled it.

"Hey!" Rory pouted.

Laughing, Max placed another cup into Rory's hand and they all sat down at the table. It didn't take long for all the food to disappear amidst complaints at the early hour.

"Were you outside already?" Rory asked, glancing at his change in clothing from the night before.

"Where do you think the supplies came from?"

"Max."

"Yeah," Lorelai said, her head resting on the table as she drifted close to sleep again. "He's our provider."

Laughing, Tristan stood up from the table. "Am I all right to take a shower?"

"No."

Tristan raised his eyebrows, but Rory just shook her head. "Please?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess so."

"Towels are in the cupboard," Lorelai said, gesturing, her hand smacking Rory's arm as she did.

Rory glared at her the back of Lorelai's head before turning back to him. "And try not to use all the hot water."

He winked at her. "Who says I don't feel the need for a cold one."

Max groaned and Lorelai chuckled as Rory glared at him. Before anyone could reply, though, Tristan headed into the shower, part of him still unable to believe he had made a joke like that in front of his teacher. His world was definitely getting stranger by the day.

xxxxx

Really he should have suspected there was something up when, on his return to the kitchen, Lorelai Gilmore was sitting, showered, fully dressed, and grinning at him from the kitchen table. He frowned slightly and turned to glance at Max, who was looking rather amused. A second later, Rory entered from behind him, clearly having taken a shower up the stairs and dressed in a hurry.

"Okay, I didn't take that long in there, what's going on?"

"Pft," Lorelai let out a breath, "he has to ask!"

"Yeah, I really do. Mary?"

Rory said nothing, simply sat next to Lorelai at the table, her grin eerily reflective of the one on her mother's face.

"Max?" he asked, the name still sounding foreign on his lips.

"I believe Lorelai wants to call in that promise you made her."

He frowned for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Ah, I see. Well, now, I'm not really sure that-"

"I let you into my home, fed you, cl-okay, I didn't clothe you, but I let you have a nice long shower and I give you my daughter-"

"Hey!"

"Now hand over the keys to my shiny weekend drive, Greek Boy."

Tristan laughed and went into Rory's room to get his backpack. He fished out his keys and returned to the kitchen.

"Since you gave me such a _wonderful_ gift in return," he said, winking at Rory, "I guess I can part with my car."

"Oh, no," Max said shaking his head. "If you're letting her loose in that car, you're both going to be there to help explain her insanity to the police when we get pulled over."

"I will not get pulled over!"

Max just looked at her.

"Well, not more than once, anyway."

"Given that they're likely to repossess the car the first time, I'm thinking that will be enough," Rory said with a smile.

"What happened to being on my side?"

"You gave me away in exchange for a weekend with a car! I feel so used and dirty."

Tristan smirked at her, but said nothing. However, the look on her face told him that he didn't actually have to.

"But it's _shiny_," Lorelai said with emphasis, her eyes wide.

"Let's go for a ride, then," Max said, ushering them out.

Lorelai squealed and led the way out to the car. Tristan and Rory smiled at each other as Max locked the door behind them.

"Something tells me," Tristan said, leaning towards her, "that this is going to turn into one of those cups upside down/right way up things."

"Upside down," Rory said, leading the way to the car.

"Right way up, Mary."

"Bugs can get in if they're facing up!"

"Most people don't tend to have bugs in their kitchen."

"Oh, and flies, I suppose_ they_ never get into your kitchen."

"If cups are facing down then they get dust rings and the inside goes stale, which makes coffee taste off."

Rory shut her door rather forcefully and turned to glare at him as he got in the car. "That's why people have clean shelves. What am I saying? Of course you don't know, like _you've_ ever cleaned shelves."

"Wow, getting the claws out, Mary, it's only ten thirty."

"Hey, hey, hey." They both turned to see Lorelai and Max looking back at them from the front of the car. "I thought we were friends now. All of us. Friends going for a nice drive in a shiny car. _Friends_, remember? You guys want to go all kung fu on each other, please don't do it in my pretty car."

"Besides," Max said, putting on his seatbelt. "Isn't this argument supposed to be ours?" he indicated himself and Lorelai. "Down, by the way," he said to his fiancé.

"Good man."

Max chuckled and turned to Tristan. "Know which battles to fight and which ones to just give in. The only decent piece of advice my great grandfather ever gave anyone."

"That's a little harsh," Lorelai said, pulling a little too sharply out of the driveway. "I hope you'll all speak nicer of me when I'm up there playing chess with God."

"He was insane," Max clarified. "The only other advice he gave involved a tin opener and a bank safe and, needless to say, that's why he ended up in jail."

"Such colourful roots," Lorelai grinned and Tristan chuckled. "Who'd a thunk?"

Rory frowned. "You don't play chess."

xxxxx

He was nervous. He wasn't sure exactly _why_ he was so nervous but he was. He kept glancing around him as if they might pop up anywhere. Which was stupid, because he was expecting them, he just wasn't so sure he wanted them here.

Glancing around, Tristan took a moment to smile at the transformation that had taken place in the centre of town. As promised, there was already a small gaggle of little children in flower costumes practicing on the gazebo and Taylor was having a minor panic attack by the Autumn display, but Kirk had yet to become entangled in the snowflake; although, Tristan had spotted him eyeing it warily, like a cowboy preparing for a shootout.

"Hey, you."

He turned and smiled at the pretty Korean girl who was brandishing a hot dog at him. "Hey Lane," he said, chuckling at her offering.

"Rory said to tell you she'll be back in a few. I think she and Lorelai wanted to polish off a few hotdogs before they inevitably run out. They saw little point in leaving the cart until they were done."

"That sounds about right."

"So…"

"So…"

"Yeah…"

Tristan smiled and rolled his eyes. "You're allowed to ask, Lane."

"Has he said _anything_ about me? So far, all I've had are three missed calls, a hang up, which Momma was less than thrilled about, and one measly letter, hand delivered by Rory. I'm going crazy here. Not crazy in the _Misery_ kind of way, please don't tell Henry I'm likely to attack him with a-"

"Lane!"

"Right. Sorry."

"Henry has asked about you."

"He has?" Lane sighed and Tristan chuckled. Lane was a singularly strange girl, but she was oddly endearing; if any of the other girls he knew acted like that he'd be the first to warn a friend away, but Lane was…well, unique; in a good way.

"He was a little annoyed that I'd met you, actually."

"Why?"

"Well," Tristan fell easily into his customary smirk and winked at her. "Afraid I'd decided to move in and sweep you off your feet, of course."

"Of course," Lane nodded. "And since you turned up at bible meeting on Thursday my Momma wouldn't even object too much."

"So he was understandably worried."

"I'm sure he was in those five seconds before he saw the way you pine over my best friend." Lane took a large bite of her hotdog and he could tell she was hiding a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course not," she said, still chewing her food.

"Well, that was attractive."

"I try."

He eyed his own food. "I'm suddenly not hungry anymore." Lane grinned at him and he shook his head and laughed. His stomach grumbled and he decided he wasn't that put off.

"She doesn't know, you know."

He tried not to choke. "Excuse me."

She grimaced. "Thanks for returning the favour," she said dryly as he wiped at his mouth.

"Sorry. You were saying?"

"Rory. She doesn't know. Not really. She thinks it's just a game to you."

He frowned, not exactly sure he wanted to be having this conversation with Rory's best friend. "Why are you telling me this?"

Lane shrugged. "I like you."

He winked. "I'll warn Henry." She glared at him and turned to look around the rest of the festival stalls.

There was a pause.

"Oh, look," she said pointing to the winter display, "Kirk got caught. Darn, it's only six thirty. I had money on eight."

"I think Lorelai had-" a loud celebratory call cut him off and they glanced at each other, smiling. They watched as Rory and Lorelai began dancing, Max chuckling as he looked on. "Hey Lane?" he said, not looking at her.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Having finished his food, he put his hands in his pockets and nodded towards the Gilmores. Together they walked towards Rory and Tristan wondered at the fact that he was able to speak so easily with Lane. He didn't have female friends; it had just never worked out before. Paris was the closest he had ever had to one and that had ended the moment he realised she wanted more. He wouldn't lead her on, because he could see it in her eyes every time he spoke to her and it killed him to know that he couldn't be nice to her without her taking it the wrong way. It had been a hard decision to make, one of the hardest, but, when forced to choose between hurting her by getting her hopes up every time he was nice to her only to dash them, between that and just not talking to her, he had chosen the one he thought would hurt her the least in the long run.

Rory he couldn't count. Not because she wasn't now his friend, she was, but because he wanted more and he wouldn't deny that. He couldn't deny that. Rory Gilmore was more. Lane, however, he could get used to. She wasn't interested in dating him and she was smart, quirky, and ever so slightly odd. And that was a welcome change.

"Hey stranger," he said, nudging Rory's shoulder.

"Hey!" She grinned up and him and he couldn't help returning in kind. Her eyes were bright and her defences were completely down. This was truly Rory Gilmore he was looking at, all smiles, all her quirks and she was grinning up at _him_. No, he definitely couldn't deny that he wanted more.

"Are you having fun?" she asked and he nodded. He noticed that Max and Lorelai had disappeared, likely to collect their money.

"Definitely. I see Lorelai won her wager."

Rory nodded. "There was dancing."

"I saw." He leaned closer to her. "And here I thought you didn't dance on demand."

She blushed prettily and rolled her eyes. He loved that she no longer fought his innuendo, or rejected his comments, but he realised that Lane was right; she didn't have a clue how he truly felt about her. He was going to have to change that.

"Rory."

Tristan sighed as the voice cut across the air. There was, however, still a Dean in the picture and he knew that the only way to keep in Rory's good graces was to avoid confrontation. Even if that meant biting his tongue 'til it bled.

He stood up straight, his hands still in the pockets of his jeans. Next to him, Rory tensed up and he tried his best not to glare at Bag Boy for ruining the mood. He refused to be the one to start anything, but that didn't mean he didn't want to.

"Hey Dean," Lane said, trying to lighten the mood and failing miserably. "Look Rory…it's Dean," she finished redundantly.

"Hey Lane," Tristan said, his voice tense. "Did you say there were snow cones over by the Winter display?"

"I didn't, but there are."

"Why don't we go get some?" His eyes didn't leave Dean's. He couldn't believe he was doing this. It absolutely killed him, but he was going to be the better man. "Rory, you want one?"

"Yes, please."

Her voice sounded distant and, without thinking, he reached out and squeezed her arm reassuringly. She turned and smiled at him and he nodded, before following Lane away from them. However, he was still close enough when Dean began to talk and Tristan couldn't help turning for one last glance at them.

"Look, Rory, I'm not going to push you," Dean said firmly, but the look in his eyes said the opposite. "I just want you to understand what I'm saying. I want to be with you, but I don't like you being around him."

He wanted to turn and head back to them, to point out that he wasn't the one that had had Rory in tears this week, he wasn't the one hurting her, but a small hand on his arm drew him in the opposite direction.

"That was really big of you," Lane said after a moment and he turned to look in the direction they were walking.

"Yeah, well, I feel like an idiot."

"Trust me, this will earn you major brownie points."

"I keep getting those, but nothing seems to come of them," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"It will," she said softly.

"Lane…" he trailed off, unsure how to ask, unsure if he even wanted to.

"I don't know."

He turned to her with a slight frown.

"I don't know if she likes you like that. I do know that she likes you, though. She likes you when you're like this and not being mean to her."

He sighed. "I never _meant_ to be mean, it just sort of came out that way."

"You should really work on that."

He chuckled. "I guess I should." He smiled up at Max and Lorelai as they approached, but could tell the older Gilmore wasn't paying any attention to them.

"Uh oh," she muttered and he turned around. Rory and Dean weren't exactly arguing, but things didn't appear to be going well. Tristan made to head back, but Lorelai grabbed his arm. "I think I should go."

Reluctantly he nodded and watched as Lorelai headed over towards Rory. There was an uncomfortable silence and he turned away, unable to watch any more.

"So, snow cones?" he asked Lane and the three of them headed towards the winter display, wondering briefly if they should perhaps try to help Kirk.

xxxxx

"You know, Gilmore, I don't think I'd've actually believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Derek grinned at Tristan over her shoulder; he was the only one to spot their approach.

"Although," Brian said with a shudder, "I could have done without seeing Patty and Selma with my own eyes."

Rory laughed. "I think you mean Patty and Babette."

"She's _actually_ called Patty?" Rory nodded. "I think she scared about ten years off my life."

"Lucky you," Graeme said, looking a bit ill. "She grabbed my ass."

"Is there a bathroom around here?" Anna asked and Lorelai pointed to Luke's.

"Avoid the ones they set up for the festival." She shuddered. "They were gross and I was in there with a marathon pee-er!"

"What?" Rory asked.

"I swear, it was like listening to Niagra. Only with heavy breathing."

"Oh, my God, stop!" Rory was turning red and glancing apologetically at his friends.

"Seriously. It was disturbing."

"_You're_ seriously disturbing."

There was choked laughter, no one seemed quite sure what to make of Lorelai yet. Tristan grinned as he approached the small gathering that had surrounded Rory, Lorelai, and a rather uncomfortable Bag Boy. "I see you guys made it."

"Wouldn't miss it," Anna called over her shoulder as she headed off to Luke's.

"Snow cones!" Lorelai exclaimed, grabbing the one Max was holding out to her.

"Don't even pretend to hide mine, Tris," Rory said, narrowing her eyes. "There will be actual maiming if you do not- snow cone!" She took the proffered goodie and smiled angelically at him. "Thank you."

"I'm feeling the need to get on my hands and knees and pull a '_Wayne's World'._" Lorelai said and Tristan smirked at her, stepped back, and gestured for her to do so.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Please do. If his head explodes I won't need to see that smug grin again."

"You wound me, Mary."

"I could."

"I might like that."

"I'll bear that in mind."

"Dirty."

"You've spent way too much time with my mother for my liking."

"And not enough for mine!" Lorelai chipped in with a wide grin.

"And you need to stop with the jailbait comments."

"Yes, _Mom_." Lorelai glanced briefly at Tristan's friends and smiled. "Tristan's my boy toy. Isn't that right, Pinky?"

"That's right, Brain."

"Wow, your friends turn such pretty colours."

The group laughed, except, Tristan noticed rather smugly, for Dean. Bag Boy's jaw was clenched and he was glaring at Tristan.

"No way!" Brian exclaimed, pointing towards Kirk and the small contingent of would be rescuers that were trapped in the giant snowflake. "Gilmore, I do believe the only thing missing from your list is the man passed out under the giant daisy chain and the oldies stripping."

"Oh, Taylor passed out over by the dead tree in the fall display this year," Lorelai supplied, licking the dripping water from her snow cone off her hands. "And it's way too early for Patty and Babette's 'Let Me Entertain You'."

"Maybe Tristan could fill in this year," Brian said with a smirk. "He does love to serenade."

"And strip," Dave supplied with a wicked glint in his eye.

"Oh, do tell!" Lorelai said grinning manically.

"Dave, if you weren't a wrestler, I hope you know I'd be kicking your ass right about now."

"Noted."

Everyone laughed and Rory smirked up at him. "Don't worry, Mom, I'll get it out of him."

He cocked his head to one side. "Any time, any place, Mary," he said seductively, taking pleasure in both Rory's blush and the fact that Dean looked ready to disembowel him.

"Oh, my God, it's Rolf Harris!"

Lorelai's sudden outcry had them all turning to stare at the poor unfortunate who happened to be crossing their path. Luckily they hadn't been spotted staring…yet.

"Mom!" Rory hissed as the others laughed.

"_Can you see what it is yet?_"

"Mom, stop it before he sees you."

"What? Look at him! It's Rolf!"

"Do you really want to re-live the Great Santa Clause Debacle?"

"That was classic. I saw Santa," she said.

"It was Kirk in a suit and he almost had heart failure when you started coming on to him."

"Well, I always wanted a man that came with a multitude of _toys_."

"You are sick and perverted. Santa will never be the same again."

"Honey, there's a reason Santa can be rearranged to spell Satan."

"I thought I was Satan?" Tristan said, inserting himself easily into the flow.

"Well, I'll sit on your lap any day of the week," Lorelai said, wagging her eyebrows.

"I don't think you want to play with his toys, you might catch something." The moment the words were out of her mouth, Rory clapped her hands over it.

"Mary, you've upped your game, I'm impressed." Her reaction was too much, Tristan clutched at his sides as everyone collapsed in fits of laughter. Rory went bright red and, seeing that her mother was going to be of no use, she buried her face in Max's chest, trying to hide her bright red face. Needless to say, when Anna returned, the blonde was justifiably confused.

He wasn't sure if he was more amused by Lorelai and Rory or the fact that his friends didn't quite know how to react about their teacher's presence. He had noticed their shock at spotting Mr. Medina when they had returned with snow cones, but no one had said anything yet. It was almost as if they were ignoring him in the hopes that they were imagining the whole thing and, as long as they acknowledged nothing, maybe he would go away. However, having Rory acting, for all intents and purposes, as if Max was her father, seeing the small family unit they were looking at, it was becoming impossible to ignore.

"Gilmore," Brian said, finally breaking into the laughter. "I think I'm in love with your mother, or possibly you, but that might get me beat up." Tristan was glad he had the sense not to specify by whom, because Dean had looked very unimpressed with Rory's comment. "I'll stick with the more experienced Gilmore."

Tristan chuckled. "I think Max might have an issue with that one," he said, indicating Mr. Medina and waiting to see the fall out from his statement.

There was a wide eyed silence.

"Did you just call Mr. Medina, _Max_?" Brian asked warily.

Tristan smirked.

"Dude, that's just _wrong_."

"Well, wrong as it is, Mr. Phillips, I have to stand by the statement." He wrapped the arm that wasn't around Rory across Lorelai's shoulders. The elder Gilmore held her left hand to her cheek and wiggled her fingers about, showing off the shiny diamond Max had placed there about three hours earlier.

"She's been doing that all night," Rory said, rolling her eyes, her face slowly reducing in redness. She took a step towards the others, glancing at her mother and soon-to-be father-in-law. "Okay, Miss Spirit Fingers, we get the point. I think you've traumatised our friends enough."

Tristan glanced at the others who all smiled at him. They, too, had noticed that Rory had referred to them as her friends as well.

"So, friend," Derek said throwing an arm around Rory. Tristan was all set to glare at him, but ended up smiling instead; Dean was glaring enough for the both of them. "Are you planning on introducing us to anyone else?"

"Well, this," Rory said, indicating the small Korean at his side, "is Lane, my bestest friend ever."

Lane curtsied and batted her eyelids, although Tristan saw a slight blush graze her cheeks. She was hiding her nerves well.

"Well, hello, Lane, Rory's bestest friend ever," Derek said with a bow to compliment her curtsey.

"Wait a minute," Graeme said with a frown. "Henry's Lane?"

"Did you hear that," Lane said softly, so that only Tristan, who was closest to her, could hear. "I'm Henry's Lane."

"I told you," he said with a wink.

"Hey DuGrey, you might want to stop the flirting, Henry's a tough competitor."

Tristan smirked. "But I've got an in with the parents."

"An in that we're never letting you live down," Lorelai said, grinning. "Tristan went to a _bible_ meeting."

Derek nodded. "Yeah," he said. "The Hartford ones clashed with-" Tristan's glare finally registered and the other boy changed the topic.

"And who's this guy currently boring holes into my good buddy's head?" Brian asked, frowning at Bag Boy.

Tristan smirked and Rory glared at Brian. "This is Dean."

"Ah," Anna said, knowingly. "The boyfriend."

Her statement instantly had all the males of the group sizing Dean up. Tristan was pleased to note that that seemed to be making Dean angrier. He was hoping to see steam coming out of Bag Boys ears by the end of the night. He knew it was petty, but, if he couldn't beat the guy up, he'd take what he could get.

Before anyone could say anything to break the uncomfortable silence, an off key warbling caught their attention and they turned to see Kirk making his way to the piano on shaky legs. He was soon, however, drowned out by the rambunctious singing of Miss Patty and Babette.

"Wow, they're really early this year," Rory commented.

"I think I heard Andrew say he was missing a large bottle of gin about an hour ago."

"I think I know where it went."

They continued to stare, fixated on the sounds and sights of the two women singing their hearts out by the town gazebo.

"Please tell me we're leaving," Graeme said suddenly, watching the two women begin to approach them with lecherous looks and sounding as if he was about to have a panic attack.

Tristan chuckled. "What do you say, Mary, you ready to party?"

Rory glanced warily at Dean. "I guess so. I mean there's not much else to see."

"Oh, you don't want to see Patty and Babette eat your new friends?" Lorelai asked, pouting. "You always spoil my fun."

"I think we should head out to Louise's."

"Yeah, I think Lane might die pining if we don't get her to Henry soon," Tristan added, laughing and jumping out of the way of Lane's arm.

"You're forgetting that Herny's a tough competitor," she said, echoing Derek's words. "I might just ask him to beat you up, just for the fun of it."

"She would too," Rory added. "She's always wanted to have two men get into a fist fight over her."

"Uh, guys?"

They turned to see Graeme staring in horror at the fast approaching women and laughed.

Lorelai hugged Rory. "Be back by one and someone will have to refrain from drinking, because I intend to drive Tristan's pretty car again tomorrow and I need it to be in one piece."

"Her only daughter and she's worried about the car," Rory said. "I'm officially offended."

"I have the prettiest daughter in the world," she said, stroking Rory's hair, "but you're not fast and shiny."

"I feel so unloved."

"Back by one," Max echoed, kissing Rory on the top of the head. "You might want to get Mr. Montgomery out of here before he has a heart attack."

Tristan laughed and Rory nodded, grabbing Graeme's arm and tugging him towards the road. It didn't take much to get him to follow and he was quickly in the lead.

"So, that's it, then?"

She turned to face Dean and Tristan hovered behind her, not sure if he should just go on ahead. He didn't really want to, so he stayed.

"I can't deal with you when you're being like this."

"Like what, Rory? Like a guy whose girlfriend keeps shutting him out, all because of some Rich Boy who just wants to get in her pants?"

"It's not like that, Dean!"

"Really." Dean glanced up at Tristan. "You want to tell her it's not like that? Tell her you're not really in this just so you can sleep with her and throw her aside like all your other conquests?"

Tristan shook his head. "You know nothing about me."

"I know your type."

Tristan smirked. "I surpass stereotype. I don't really like being defined by other people or their expectations."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Dean said scathingly. "Wouldn't want to be grouped in there with all us little people, now, would you? I notice you didn't answer my question."

"He doesn't have to, Dean," Rory said softly. "You're the one making this difficult."

"No, it's okay, Rory," Tristan said. He was aware of the fact that his friends were not far behind them and could likely hear. He was also aware of the fact that Lorelai, Max, and a few of the town gossips were watching avidly. Well, that was okay, because he figured it was time Rory knew why he was doing this.

"You're right, I do want more. I want Rory away from you for a start. I don't like you and I don't like the way you treat her. This isn't about getting Rory into my bed, Bag Boy, because she's worth more than that, and even if you can't see it, I can. You treat her like a possession and, yeah, maybe I wasn't good at showing it in the past, but she's more than a conquest." He into Rory's shocked eyes. "She always has been." He allowed that to sink in, making sure Rory understood him. "And," he said, turning back to look at Dean, "as for anything else I might want between us…well, that's none of your damn business, but it's a hell of a lot more than what you give me credit for."

"I'll kill you."

Tristan shook his head before Dean even took one step towards him. "No, you won't. I'm not fighting you, Dean. Not this time. I'm not making a scene just so you can feel like a big man defending your woman." He nodded his head towards Rory. "She's worth more."

There was silence following his words. He didn't take his eyes off Dean. Holding a hand out to Rory, he waited until he felt her slim hand in his grasp before turning and leading the way back towards the car, wondering, when, exactly, he had grown up and what on earth he had got himself into.

He glanced at her, walking unsteadily at his side. He hoped he had done the right thing, but the fact that she was standing next to him and not back there with her boyfriend must have meant something to her. It certainly meant a lot to him. He'd seen a new side to Rory Gilmore lately, one that made him fall for her harder than he already had. And, as much as he wanted to make himself stop, to tell himself that she was taken and that he should be happy with what he had, he couldn't. She was all he wanted and she was walking with him hand in hand and her boyfriend was standing twenty feet away in the other direction. He kind of felt like pulling a '_Wayne's World'_ himself.

xxxxx

**End of Part Nine: We're not Worthy!**

xxxxx

phew

Well, for a chapter that started out as an absolute bugger to begin with, it certainly didn't want to stop at the end. I was all set to write the party at Louise's and everything, until I realised that it was 12:45am.

Oh, yeah, about the fact that now lets author's respond to reviews, I'm really sorry that I don't a lot of the time. (a) I keep forgetting I can and (b) I don't currently have internet access in my flat and haven't had for quite some time, so I don't really get the chance to. I will try to get back to you if I can.

Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the long wait, please feel free to hit the author's friend and let my ickle review button know what you thought :)


	10. Tread Softly

jaw drops …okay…wow…I've broken the 300 mark for reviews…just…wow… You guys rock. Seriously. I can't actually form the words to tell you how much I love that you've stuck with me over such long hiatus'. I'm only sorry I can't reply to all of your reviews. I don't have internet access (haven't for months) and can only get online in internet café's, so I've barely the time to check my LJ and my inboxes. But, please know that I appreciate _each and every_ review.

Seriously, thank you.

**Author Note:** Okay, by following the same trend as I have been, this part should have been from Lorelai's point of view. However, that really doesn't work seeing as Lorelai isn't going to Louise's party and I think I might get lynched if I miss that out completely! Plus, with all the Dean stuff happening in the last chapter, it makes more sense to have Rory next.

xxxxx

**Part Ten: Tread Softly**

xxxxx

The trip to Louise's went by in a blur and, before she knew what was happening, Rory found herself standing next to a makeshift bar taking a sip of something she wasn't quite sure she wanted a name for. She didn't think it was alcoholic, but she didn't really care either, which was a first for her. She glanced at Tristan, who was eyeing her warily and smiled, trying to get him to realise she was all right. She wasn't all right, but she didn't want him to waste his entire night worrying about her.

"Rory, you guys made it."

She turned to face Madeline and Louise with a small smile. She wasn't sure how to act with them yet, but they had been a lot nicer to her since Tristan had spoken to them about PJ Harvey. Madeline grinned at her and she couldn't help but return the gesture.

"So, are you having fun?" the brunette asked perkily.

"Yes," she lied. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was more to do with the fact that her problems with Dean were weighing heavily on her mind.

"I can tell," Louise said dryly.

"Ladies," Tristan wrapped an arm around Madeline and Louise and winking at Rory. "Have we heard any more about the Autumn dance?"

"I hear they're taking votes," Madeline said, nodding. "I think they want it themed."

"Yeah," Louise said, turning around in Tristan's loose grip and pressing against his side. Rory chuckled softly and he mock glared at her. "I think they're going for films or famous couples or something."

"Very 'Never Been Kissed'," Rory said, smiling.

"Yeah," Madeline said, turning to Rory. "And I think it's Chilton only, this time, so I don't think your boyfriend will be allowed to come. Sorry."

"Oh, that's okay." Rory smiled awkwardly and, for once, it was Madeline who noticed that something wasn't quite right. She smiled, but it didn't seem to convince the girl. However, the issue wasn't raised and Rory was grateful.

"Stupid idiot." The words were muttered under his breath, but Rory still heard them. She turned in time to see Derek brush past her and disappear out through the open patio doors. Tristan hadn't heard anything, but she knew he could tell that something was wrong. However, he seemed unable to disentangle himself from Madeline and Louise.

"I'll go," Rory said impulsively and, after a moment, he nodded.

She walked quickly away from the party and out into the darkness. The garden wasn't empty, but it didn't take her long to spot Derek kicking at a flower patch over by the tree line that surrounded the grounds.

She walked towards him, waving when he spotted her approach. His shoulder slumped in defeat and he took on a demeanour she had often witnessed in Tristan; one hand tucked into his pocket, the other rubbing at his neck.

"Hey," she said softly, suddenly wondering what on earth she was doing. She didn't know Derek, or any of her new friends, all that well; how was she supposed to talk to him?

"Hey."

There was a slight silence before her Gilmore stubbornness took over. "You okay?"

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, just fine."

"Stupid question, sorry. Today was my mom's day to be hit with the smart stick."

"What did you get hit with?"

"The pretty stick, of course."

"Of course," he said, a smile coming to his face. "I'm sorry, I should have noticed."

"You're forgiven." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bar of Hersheys. "Smooshed chocolate for your thoughts?"

He took the proffered candy bar, playing with the wrapper, but not actually opening it. "So, Karen and Tommy got back together."

"Rat bastard." He let out a short burst of laughter and she grimaced. "Sorry?"

"No, no, you're right. I'm just not sure which one you're talking about."

"Both?"

"Works for me."

Rory nodded. "I'm sorry. I really did hear that she liked you."

"She says she did, she just liked Tommy more."

She scrunched up her face. "I don't see why."

"You're definitely a keeper, Gilmore."

"Hey, hands off," a voice behind her said and she turned to see Tristan approaching. "I got dibs."

"What am I, a toy?" She grimaced. "Forget I said that."

"Only if I get exclusive rights to play with you," he said with a grin and she swiped at his arm. He winked at her before turning to face Derek. "So…"

"So."

"Saw Karen and Tommy sucking face."

"Tristan!" She hit him.

"What? I did!"

"Do you know nothing of subtlety?"

"About as much as you."

"Hey," Derek said with a shrug. "She gave me candy. You haven't offered anything in exchange for your lack of subtlety."

"See," Rory said smugly. "I gave Hersheys."

"I gave thirteen years of friendship."

Derek seemed to consider that. "I guess that's acceptable."

"So…you okay?" Tristan asked, shifting on his feet.

Derek nodded. "No, but I'll feel a hell of a lot better if I wipe Tom all over the court on Monday."

"I'll help."

"But no violence," Rory said adamantly.

"Not even a little?" Derek asked.

"There was definite tongue exposure in that lip lock," Tristan added.

Rory shuddered. "Okay, but only a little; nothing that will get either of you expelled and nothing that will result in me going to New York on my own next weekend."

"Agreed," they replied together.

"Hey, I'm gonna head back in, see if I can piss off Dave and Bri," Derek said and they all turned back toward the house.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Rory said. "I saw Anna and Audrey beating them at pool a little while ago. I don't think they were impressed."

The boys laughed and Tristan turned to look at her. "They always lose and the more they do the more annoyed they get. So they keep betting they'll win next time. It's a vicious circle."

"Ah."

"You coming?" Derek asked when they entered the house again and Rory nodded, following him through to the pool room. They exchanged hellos with everyone, but after settling against the far wall next to Tristan, it didn't take long for her thoughts to return to her own problems.

"Hey," Tristan said, nudging her. "Thanks for that."

"Any time," she said with a smile.

"They like you, you know."

She grinned. "I like them, too, so we're all good."

"You okay?" he asked, frowning and she nodded. "Nice try, Mary, but I'm not buying it."

He tugging gently on her arm and she followed him dutifully from the crowded room, barely managing to step out of the way when two of her classmates fell at her feet. They weren't drunk - there really wasn't much, if any, alcohol during Chilton parties, despite her mother's insistence to the contrary, well, not to Rory's knowledge. Everyone was just dancing rather exuberantly. She wished she was having as much fun. She waved briefly at Lane and Henry as she was pulled out of the room.

"Tristan, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

He pulled her up the stairs and down the winding hallway, past random people she thought she should know. She didn't have the energy to figure anything out, so she just let him lead her. A few minutes later, he pulled her into a large room and out onto the balcony.

"Pretty." She smiled, gazing up at the stars and took a deep breath. "I'm really so-"

"Don't even think about it." She glanced at him and frowned. He shook his head. "Don't even think about apologising, Rory, nothing that happened tonight was your fault."

"I think it was. You were right, I should have talked to Dean before now. I…God, how did this get to messed up?"

"Karma."

"Gee, way to make me feel better, Tristan."

He chuckled. "Well, we're getting along; it only makes sense that something else should go wrong in its place."

"Well, that's not fair."

"I've come to the conclusion that life isn't fair."

"Well deducted, how did you figure it out?"

He smirked. "Every time I opened my mouth when I was near you, well, that was a pretty good giveaway." She grinned. He sobered and she leaned against the railing, waiting for him to continue. "I might have a lot of money, Mary, but my life isn't easy, not by a long shot."

"I never said that it was."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know." Tristan sighed and she looked at him. He was clearly wrestling with something, some thought that he wasn't sure he wanted to voice.

"What?"

"Is this…us…worth it?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think it is. After all, life's about enjoying the little things."

"Little?" He raised his eyebrows. "I'd like to prove you otherwise."

She blushed, but didn't give in to her embarrassment. "Please, don't go to all that trouble for me."

"You weren't listening, Mary," he said, leaning closer. "I said I wanted to."

"Technically, you said you'd like to. I am, however, declining the offer."

He winked. "For now, Mary, for now."

She smiled and he grinned, leaning against the railing facing her. "Yeah," she said, nodding. "It is worth it. I like that I have friends at school and I'm glad it's you and the guys."

"Now you can make as many little comments as you like about _them_," he said, smirking. "However, I'd refrain from saying anything about Dave, he could kill you with his pinkie."

"Noted."

"Also, I think Anna can be a bit of a spitfire."

"I'll be nice and not tell either of them you said that."

"Why thank you, Gilmore, for that you get brownie points."

"What do those get me?" she asked, grinning at the reversal.

"Tit for tat, Mary," he said, wagging his eyebrows. "You show me your t-"

"T-Tristan!" Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She started hitting him and he jumped back, laughing. She backed him into the far corner of the balcony, continuing to smack his arms.

"Hey! Hey! I was going to say brownies!"

"No, you were not!" she retorted, trying not to laugh at the cheeky grin on his face.

"Little things, Mary, remember the little things!"

"If I wasn't remembering the little things, I'd've raised my knee and listened for the crunch."

His face contorted and he edged away from her now that her hands were on her hips. "Remind me not to piss you off again."

She grinned, swaying from side to side. "I will."

"Friends?"

She frowned, seemingly pondering the idea. "I don't know, I still think you owe me something for that last comment."

"You mean that last not-comment; I didn't get to finish it. If I'm getting punished, I at least like to _commit_ the crime."

"Don't even try it, buster."

He grinned. "Okay, so what do I owe you, oh, wondrous Gilmour."

"Ooh, that I like. A few more of those and…" Her eyes lit up. "A poem."

"A poem?"

"Yes, I want a poem. Nothing cliché and nothing stupid. Your favourite; if, of course, you're cultured enough to enjoy one of the finer literary genres."

"Hey, I like poetry. Well…some of it."

"Come on then, Bible Boy. Recite."

"What if my favourite poem happens to be a cliché?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Then just recite me one you like."

"Okay." He stepped closer and she at him warily. "Just getting into the mood, Mary." He grinned and she rolled her eyes. By the time she was back looking at him, he was almost nose to nose with her. Her heart jumped a little and those stupid butterflies were back in her stomach, so she took a hesitant step back. He didn't follow, but she couldn't make out his reaction to her slight move.

"_Never pain to tell thy love; Love that never told can be; For the gentle wind does move; Silently, invisibly. I told my love, I told my love; I told her all my heart; Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears - ; Ah, she doth depart. Soon as she was gone from me; A traveller came by; Silently, invisibly; O, was no deny._"

Silence followed his final words and it took Rory a moment to realise that she had closed the small gap she had created only moments before. Suddenly she was aware of everything; her elbow touching his against the railing, the occasional brush of the back of his hand against her arm, his breath on her face, the butterflies in her stomach… she did the only thing she knew. She moved away.

"S-so if that's not your favourite, what is?"

The look in his eyes told her that he was aware of her decision to 'run away' and that he wasn't about to call her on it. He wasn't going to push her and she relaxed…but she couldn't deny that she was also a little disappointed.

"So, your favourite?"

"_To see a world in a grain of sand; or heaven in a wild flower; hold infinity in the palm of your hand; and eternity in an hour_," he said, shrugging his shoulders and putting his hands in his pockets.

Rory smiled at him. "I love that," she said softly. "Possibility." She sighed.

"I like to think it means that you can find everything you need in the smallest thing…like someone's eyes."

Her breath hitched as he pinned her with his gaze. She felt as if she couldn't move and yet he seemed to be getting closer. At that moment, she couldn't think of anything but him and didn't spend a second trying. There was a loud bang behind them and they both jumped, spinning around to see a three guys lying on the floor laughing. They made their excuses and stumbled out into the hallway, whatever joke they shared seeming to get funnier by the second.

"Sounds like the party's getting started," Rory said awkwardly, searching for anything to break the moment, or rather the edgy silence that had followed.

"Just in time," he muttered, almost bitterly. He shifted a little and cleared his throat, before looking at her with a smile. "You know, you're turning me into the kind of guy I like to beat up."

Rory laughed, but didn't comment. She didn't want to touch on what he was admitting to her; she wasn't ready to deal with that or what might have happened had they not been interrupted. Dealing with Dean was enough for the moment.

"I like Blake," she said, not sure why she was still talking about the one thing she wanted to avoid for the moment. "But I always preferred Yeats, he was romantic and so sad at the same time."

"So you'd rather have your guy quoting Yeats? You're killing me here, Mary." He winked, his hand clasped over his heart.

"Well, since we haven't studied him in class, I'm not holding out for you to quote him to me," she said with a small smile. He grew serious all of a sudden and her eyes widened as she realised what she had just said. She opened her mouth to take it back, but nothing came out. She couldn't speak and she couldn't move, because her eyes refused to break his gaze.

"_Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths; Enwrought with golden and silver light; The blue and the dim and the dark cloths; Of night and light and the half-light; I would spread the cloths under your feet; But I, being poor,_" he smirked a little at this and she giggled nervously, but didn't lose eye contact and he continued, "_have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet…_" he trailed off and she waited.

But he said nothing.

Something told her that he knew the rest.

He let her think about it for a few minutes before nodding. "Definitely the kind of guy I beat up."

"This coming from the guys whose favourite film is the BBC drama of _Pride and Prejudice_."

"I never said it was my favourite film, Mary, and it's not even a film, I'd like to point out. I did, however, say it was the ultimate romance."

"Then what is your favourite film?" she asked, suddenly feeling like a bad friend. She knew that he knew could name her favourite film, CD, song, band, singer…and a lot of other things, but she was starting to realise that there was so much that she didn't know about him.

"Terminator," he said with a smirk and she groaned. "What, that's not manly enough for you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just the truth, Tristan. I already know you own _Pride and Prejudice_, the full works of William Shakespeare, which I happen to know pre-dates study at Chilton, so don't even think about trying to pass it off as school stuff, and you can quote Blake and Yeats. Your manly reputation went up in smoke a long time ago."

"I'm suddenly feeling the need to re-substantiate my masculinity."

"If you reach for your belt buckle I cannot vouch for the safety of said masculinity."

"You planning on pouncing me, Mary? Because you never need to warn me prior to the event, just feel free to go ahead and jump me any time."

"I was thinking more along the lines of pulling a Kathy Bates, only I'd be aiming a little higher than your ankles."

"Remind me never to piss you off."

"You really should just get that tattood somewhere, that way you wouldn't need me to keep reminding you."

"I'll get it added under the heart with our names and '4eva' I already got on my-"

She laughed and hit him playfully, cutting him off mid-sentence. She frowned and let out a puff of air, a determined look coming to her face. "This is stupid. We're at a party; the first party I haven't wanted to sit in the corner reading, or possibly felt like I was re-enacting _She's All That_. And I'm hiding out on a balcony _wallowing_. I don't want to wallow. I want to have fun." She looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. "You're supposed to be fun, teach me how."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You might want to make sure you've thought this through, Mary."

"Teach me."

"There are many things I want to teach you, Mary, I'm just not sure you can handle it."

"Is that a challenge, Bible Boy?"

"Only if you think you can take it."

"Oh, I can take anything you can dish out, Greek Boy."

"No one's explained that one to me yet and I'm feeling you need to bargain a little here."

Rory shook her head. "Like you don't want to loosen me up a bit anyway."

"Oh, there's a lot I want to loosen up about you, Mar, that shirt for a start." He smirked. "However, you seem to want me to impart the wisdom of my very essence here and that's got to be worth something."

"Impart the wisdom of your very essence?" she asked incredulously. "What you swallow a thesaurus this afternoon?"

"Luke slipped one in my burger. It's helping me find new and exciting ways to describe the wonder that is me."

"Thinking a little highly of yourself there, Tristan."

"Merely pointing out my infinite wisdom and importance."

"You know some of Max's stuff arrived today and I don't think there's enough room in my house for your ego this weekend. Sorry, looks like you'll have to find other arrangements."

"Guess you're going to have to find another ride home, then."

She frowned. "What's say we start again?"

"That depends; do I _actually _get to loosen your sh-"

"If you want to live, Bible Boy, don't finish that sentence."

"Noted." He winked at her and she grinned. "So, you were about to bargain for my Jedi training."

"The pleasure of my company?"

"Got that already."

"I could take it away."

"That hardly seems fair."

"Gilmore rule number ten; there's no such thing as fair, only me getting what I want."

"Wow, what's rule number one?"

"It's a Gilmore secret, sorry."

"I'm an honorary Gilmore, your mother inducted me. I even know the secret handshake."

Rory pouted. "I don't have a secret handshake."

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Tristan grinned and she crossed her arms, her pout becoming more pronounced. "I'll tell you what," he said, leaning closer conspiratorially and she had to fight not to react to his proximity. "We'll make up our own secret handshake, you can tell me what the 'Greek Boy' thing is all about, and then we can go have some fun."

"You know, you're making the 'Greek Boy' think into more than it is."

"Actually, you are. The more you refuse to tell me and the more I see those cute little pink circles on your cheeks, not to mention Lanes, throw in your mom's wicked smirk and I'm sorry, but it's enough to make anyone curious."

She debated how badly he was likely to tease her with the knowledge that she was already having fun and then weighed in the fact that he'd likely 'teach' her some fun things anyway and then decided just to go for it.

"Deal."

Tristan grinned lazily. "Deal."

He shook her hand and she decided that, if the fact that he was gently running his forefinger across her wrist, sending tingles up her spine wasn't mentioned, then it really didn't mean anything.

_Nope, _she thought, her butterflies returning. _Nothing at all._

xxxxx

"Oh, my _God_," Lane said, collapsing on the sofa. "I am actually in awe. My mouth is moving, sound is coming out, and yet I still can't put into words just how in awe of you I am. I think I'm coming down with something."

"Or," Rory said, grinning and flopping back onto the couch with her. "I'm just too cool for words."

Tristan laughed and dropped onto the floor, leaning his head against the couch by Rory's legs. "I have to admit, I'm impressed, Gilmore. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Neither did I," Lane reiterated, blinking and shaking her head. "I'm in awe."

"You said that already," Rory said smugly. "Ugh, I can't move."

Tristan mumbled his agreement and it was only the movement of his head that alerted her to the fact that she was running her fingers through his hair. She blinked and turned her head, meeting Lane's amused gaze. She rolled her eyes and leaned her head back against the sofa, her eyes closing.

"Rory," Lane whispered a few moments later and she opened one eye. Lane smiled and inclined her head in Tristan's direction. Rory glanced down to see that Tristan had moved so that he was leaning against her leg and he was fast asleep. She smiled and watched him for a few more minutes, aware that her fingers had somehow ended up trapped under his head. Not wanting to move her hand for fear of waking him, she shifted down slightly so that she was more comfortable and turned to face Lane, who was watching her pensively.

"He really, really likes you, you know."

She shifted. "I know."

"No, Rory," Lane continued, shaking her head. "I really don't think you do. I mean, he _changed_ for you."

"No he didn't," Rory said softly. "He just let me know the real him."

"You're right, he did…just… I think he's a lot more alone than we realise. Try not to break him, Rory."

"He's not a toy, Lane."

"You're right," she said. "He's not."

Rory frowned and glanced once again at the top of his head. She wasn't sure what was happening anymore, but she knew Lane was right. She really didn't want to hurt anyone, but she knew that, sometime soon, she would have to. And she was beginning to think she'd already made the choice as to whom that someone would be. She just wasn't ready to admit it.

xxxxx

"My little girl has finally grown up," Lorelai said proudly.

"Huh, and here I was about to point out that she seemed to have regressed," Max said with a grin.

"Nope, she's finally living up to her mother's name." Lorelai clasped her hands to her heart. "Greek Boy, you have my utmost admiration."

"Yeah," Tristan said, smirking, "well, I am an Adonis; a Greek God in your estimation already, where else is there to go?"

"You told him." It wasn't really a question. Lorelai shrugged. "If his head gets any bigger it won't fit in that pretty car of his, so I'll get to keep it."

Tristan smirked. "After last night, I'm thinking of bowing down before Rory."

"And here I thought you already did," Lorelai said with a smirk and Rory rolled her eyes, but she could feel her cheeks getting hot. "That's to deflate the ego I helped expand."

Tristan didn't reply and Rory cleared her throat. "So, pizza?"

"Oh, no," Lorelai said shaking her head.

"You're saying '_no'_ to _pizza_?" she asked incredulously.

Lorelai looked at her as if she was crazy. "No, I'm saying 'we'll get pizza in a minute, because right now I want to hear more of my wonderful daughter's crazy balcony to pool jumping antics'. I'm saying 'I want to hear about the limbo, the scorched puppy, the broken table, and why they resulted in me receiving a telephone call from Louise's Italian butler about goat's cheese'!"

Rory and Tristan exchanged a glance. "I think you're exaggerating, just a little," Rory said.

"Exactly what part am I exaggerating?"

"Louise's Butler is from Detroit."

Max and Tristan laughed and Lorelai pouted. "Fine, but you're divulging all later."

"Deal."

"So," Tristan said. "How are we topping this off tomorrow?"

"No, there will be no topping off in Stars Hollow," Lorelai said emphatically. "I have my image as party queen to maintain and not even my own daughter is allowed to usurp me. I am un-usurp-able."

Max grimaced. "Can we please not castrate the dictionary in front of the English teacher?"

"Oh, sweetie, that's what makes it so much fun."

Rory laughed before turning to Tristan. "You know, it might be an idea to actually set up the camp bed at some point this weekend."

"Yes," Lorelai said, nodding. "I'm beginning to think I wrongly invested my fifty cents." She mock glared at Tristan. "You've stayed over two nights and still my camp bed remains unused. It feels so unloved; so old and past its time."

"It _is_ old and past its time," Rory countered.

"Mean."

"You're five."

"Thuckerin' thuckotaj!"

Rory grimaced. "Do not do impressions. Especially when they don't even fit with the current conversation."

"What? It's cute."

"No, it's annoying and, strangely, not even close to sounding right."

"But you knew who it was."

"The phrase kinda gave it away."

"Well, if it was recognisable then clearly it wasn't that bad." Lorelai turned to Tristan and Max expectantly.

"I plead the fifth," Tristan said with a smile.

"And I'm going to go call for the pizza."

"Chicken," Lorelai said, pouting. "Ooh, chicken. Max, honey, I want chicken on my pizza."

"And Tris and I want Hawaiian. Ooh, with everything else you can get Pete to add on top."

"Without pineapple," Tristan shouted, moving one of the couch pillows so that he was more comfortable on the floor.

"What do you mean, without pineapple?" Rory demanded. "You can't have Hawaiian without pineapple!"

"Eh, Ror, I'm kinda-"

"No, no kinda, we need pineapple."

"Pineapple's gross and it makes the pizza soggy."

"You take that back!"

"Rory, no pineapple. I'm-"

"Max, pineapple!" She glared at Tristan.

"Rory," Lorelai interjected, bouncing on her seat. "Kitchen." Without giving her a chance to reply, Lorelai grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet amidst protest. "Max, honey," she said as they crossed paths. "No pineapple on Rory and Tristan's pizza."

"Mom!" She tugged her arm free.

Lorelai whirled round to face her, pulling Rory further into the kitchen and out of sight of the hallway. "Rory, you're fighting about _pizza toppings_."

"He doesn't want pineapple! Tell me, what _is_ a Hawaiian Feast with every other topping on the menu _without_ pineapple?"

"But Rory, you're fighting about _pizza toppings_."

"No pineapple!"

"_Pizza_ _toppings!_" Lorelai looked at her in askance. "Rory! _Pizza toppings_!"

"You already-oh!" Rory's eyes widened and Lorelai's shoulders dropped in relief.

"And people say you're smart. God, I thought I was going to have to go Charlie Chaplin on you, I mean the _vocal_ thing wasn't exactly working. Not sure how I would have done Dean, though, he's got that whole 'tall thing' going for him and-" She frowned. "Rory? Honey? You okay?" Rory shook her head. "Wanna wait in here a minute?" She nodded and there was a slight pause. "Wait a minute, isn't Tristan _allergic_ to pineapple?"

"But it's a Hawaiian with everything. You can't not have pineapple, that's not everything! It's not even _Hawaiian_!"

"And we're back. Come on, hula girl, cheer up so we can get back to the masses."

"Hula girl?"

"I expended all my energy on the whole _pizza toppings_ thing."

"Oh." Roy frowned, crossing her arms and Lorelai led her to the table, sitting her down and pulling up the chair next to her.

"Listen, babe, I know you've got a lot going on right now. Things at school are finally going good and you have Tristan and Lane and your new friends. Max is moving in and everything's different. I get that. I get that it's hard to accept sometimes, even if it's good stuff."

"Not all good," Rory mumbled, sighing.

"Oh, sweetie, I know it's hard, okay. I know that you don't like to let things go, but you're sixteen. Change is good, even if it's a little scary sometimes."

"What if I don't want it to change?"

"It already has, Rory."

"I know, I just… I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Lorelai sighed. "Look, babe, I like Dean, I'm _with_ the whole Dean thing, I just…I want you to make sure you know what you really want before you decide anything, because either way a nice guy gets hurt. If you choose Dean, make sure that it's him you want, that you want to be with him because he's him, not because he's safe and he was your first boyfriend. Okay?"

"I hear ya," she said, letting out a breath. Lorelai pulled her into a hug. "Mom?" Rory mumbled into Lorelai's hair.

"Yeah?"

"You really think I have a choice either way?"

Lorelai pulled back and looked at her incredulously. "Are you seriously asking me if I think Greek Boy likes you?"

Rory shrugged. "Maybe? No, of course not, I mean, I'm with Dean, I just…Do you think he does?"

"You know, for an intelligent person, you can be really stupid sometimes."

Rory frowned. "I've come to the conclusion that I hear that phrase too often for my liking."

"Then get with the program." Lorelai snapped her fingers. They smiled and stood up, hugging once more. "Rory," Lorelai whispered, "he _really_ likes you. Just…make sure you do what's right for _you._"

"I don't like hurting people."

"Oh, honey, I know you don't. That's what I love about you, but you can't please everyone this time."

"I know."

"Think about it. I don't think either of them are going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, I think Tristan's now living on our couch. We'll have to put a sign on it, maybe name it or something."

"Like on a dog kennel," Rory said nodding and they made their way back into the room just in time to see Max and Tristan having a popcorn fight.

"You know," Lorelai said, smirking. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realises he's having a food fight with his English teacher."

xxxxx

The weekend had seemed to fly by and it was closely followed by the rest of the week and, before Rory knew what was happening, it was already Wednesday. The only good thing about that was that it was at least the end of the school day.

"He's mine, you know."

She looked up, frowning when she recognised Summer and her two lackeys. "What?"

"Tristan, he's mine."

"Funny," Rory said. "I guess he misplaced his 'property of Summer' tag, because I've never seen it." She moved around the group, towards her locker, but Summer stepped in front of her again. "Move."

"No."

"Summer, we are not having this conversation."

"Funny, because I thought we were."

"Well, no one ever accused you of being right."

"Keep your hands off Tristan."

"He is neither a possession nor a piece of meat," Rory said harshly. "He's my friend and that is nothing to do with you."

"He's only after one thing and when he's done, you're gone." She smirked and Rory couldn't take it any more.

"Gee, Summer, you're absolutely right. How could I not have seen it? Tristan only wants me for the sex." She mock sighed, well aware that she was garnering a few curious (and a few incredulous) looks from the people around her. "I guess it's good that the sex is great or we'd be getting absolutely nothing out of the relationship," she continued, her voice deadpan.

When she realised that Summer was none the wiser to her sarcasm she rolled her eyes. "I obviously have to spell this out to you; Tristan and I are friends. That's it. He's my friend and I'm his. There is no kissing, no handholding, no hugging, okay, actually, maybe some hugging, but _no_ sex. Not that it's _any_ of your business. If and when Tristan and I decide to have sex, there will be no vote; there will be no consensus of what the student body thinks about it; there will be nothing involving _you_. I'm really not into voyeurism, either as the voyeur or the subject. And just in case you haven't got my point yet, this entire speech means 'keep your perfectly operated nose out of my business'. My life is nothing to do with you and what Tristan and I do or do not do is not up for debate. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a pause as Summer glared at her. "Crystal," the girl replied and Rory could see the challenge in her eyes. Great. That was just what she needed; a jealous ex out for revenge. Tristan DuGrey had a lot to answer for and she was talking about more than Summer…she wanted to know exactly what those butterflies thought they were doing in her stomach when she had inadvertently conjured the image of her and Tristan having sex. And off they went again. She was seriously going to have to give those damn butterflies a talking to. And an eviction notice. This was not good.

She stormed to her locker and pulled it open, heedless of the noise it made. After pulling out the books she needed and discarding others, she slammed her locker shut and jumped when she realised Tristan had been standing right behind her.

"Can we please keep the re-enacting of horror movies to a minimum?" she asked as they headed towards the exit. She was silently pleading with him not to mention the scene she had just caused – Chilton was too small for him not to know about it in the few minutes since it had taken place – and, luckily, it seemed like he understood her need to _not_ talk about it. Not yet, at least.

He cleared his throat. "So, I've been thinking."

"Did it hurt?"

"Funny."

"Thank you."

"This weekend, I'm driving, right?"

"To New York?"

"Well, that's where they tend to keep the American Museum of National History. I'm sure we could get them to move it if I ask my dad to ask them nicely, but-"

"Not cute. You seriously want to _drive_ us to New York? Is your disdain for public transport really that bad?"

He shrugged. "I just prefer my own space and my own timetable."

"There's a surprise."

"Well?"

Rory sighed and shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not."

"There she is," a voice hissed.

Rory frowned when she realised that a rather large group of students were watching her and Tristan exit the school. She glanced warily at Tristan, who shrugged at her, and they continued towards his car. A moment later, two blondes Rory recognised as being in the year above her were suddenly in her way.

"Is it true?" Blonde Number One asked. "Is your mom marrying Mr. Medina?"

She resisted the urge to groan. She knew it was going to get out eventually, but she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with the fall out at school. That said, the truth was that she was happy about it and she refused to show otherwise.

"Yes." She nodded. "It's true."

"Isn't that weird?" Blonde Number Two inquired with a frown.

"Surprisingly, not."

"So…he's like your dad?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah, yeah, he is."

"Oh…right."

Without waiting for them to ask anything else, she steered Tristan towards his car. He resisted after a moment and she looked up at him, frowning.

"What?"

He smiled at her and nodded his head, his gaze focussed on something behind her. She turned to see Max looking at her with a fond grin and realised that he had heard everything.

"You know what," she said, turning back to face Tristan. "Thanks, but I've already got a ride home."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mary."

Impulsively, she hugged him, but didn't look to see his reaction before she walked away. Grinning, she approached Max and smiled at him.

"You going my way?" she asked and he laughed, placing an arm on her shoulder and pulling her towards his car.

"For a Gilmore? Always."

xxxxx

**End of Part Ten: Tread Softly**

xxxxx

The poems quoted were: '_Never pain to tell thy love' _and '_To see a world…'_ from _Auguries of Innocence_' by William Blake and _'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven'_ by William Butler Yeats; three of my favourite poems :)

Okay, so, I reckon we're about…half way? A third of the way? This isn't going to be an instant Trory and I have plans for my Max/Lorelai storyline in this one as well (although, I'm still debating how that will end, exactly). Rory and Dean haven't exactly parted for good yet and, when they do, it won't be instant Trory.

**Coming soon:** A costume party, a visit from Chris, and a cherry pie…possibly :p

Keep hitting that pretty little review button, people!


	11. We're Men, Manly Men!

**Notes:** Okay, I want to thank you all, _again_, for waiting so patiently for the next update. I'm doing my best, but my muses do as they please and, lately, it's my WWE muses that have taken over. That said, my latest WWE fic has a character a lot like Lorelai and she sparked my Gilmore Girls muses into action.

I want to send out a HUGE thank you to **Kriti**, who has reviewed relentlessly to this story for updates. I'm sorry I wasn't able to deliver sooner. I appreciate that you took the time to review so many times.

I can't garuntee when the next update will be, as I have to do a lot of overtime this week and next week. Then I'm away at the weekend for a wedding. I do, however, have the start of the next chapter already written, so hopefully, it won't be _too _long.

**Story Note:** Okay, I decided just to continue with the cycle as if I hadn't missed out a Lorelai chapter. That means that this chapter is from Tristan's POV and the next will be Lorelai's, then Rory's, then back to Tristan, and so on.

xxxxx

**Part Eleven: We're Men, _Manly_ Men!**

xxxxx

Tristan rolled his pencil around his finger and tried to focus on what Mr Medina was saying. He was pretty sure it had something to do with Tolstoy, but he wouldn't bet on it.

He had been restless for two days now, not sure exactly what he was so worked up about. No, that was a lie, he knew _exactly_ what he was worked up about, he just had no idea what he was supposed to do about it.

It hadn't taken long for him to get the full story of what had happened between Rory and Summer from his friends. He had turned the corner just in time to hear the word 'voyeurism' and it hadn't taken long to figure out what was going on. However, he had demanded a full explanation anyway. He wanted to know exactly what had been said and it was the words 'if and when', more importantly the 'when' that had been plaguing him ever since.

Rory thought about him. No, she didn't just think about him, she _thought _abut him. There was no way she would have even bothered with the 'when' if she hadn't…right?

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled when he realised that she was biting the end of her pencil. Her face was scrunched up in concentration and she was listening aptly to her soon-to-be-stepfather.

"Mr DuGrey."

And, he supposed, he really should have been doing the same.

"Yes, sir?"

"Is there something on your mind that you wish to share with us all?"

"No, sir."

"Then, please, pay attention."

Mr. Medina raised his eyebrows and he nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Well, now that I have everybody's attention, allow me to introduce to you the dreaded 'project'." His words might as well have been followed by an ominous 'dun dun dun'.

"That's right. Now that you've moved up in the world, or at least in the school, we no longer expect you just to read and understand Shakespeare, we intend to torture the gentlemen into tights and the ladies into thinking that men who wear tights are attractive."

The girls chuckled and Tristan exchanged a grimace with Derek.

"So, your project will be based on what many consider to be Shakespeare's most romantic and tragic play. That's right, ladies and gentlemen; this year's performances will be based on _Romeo and Juliet_."

The announcement was greeted by a mix of sighs and groans and Tristan was surprised to note that Rory wasn't one of the ones sighing. Not that he'd thought she'd be the type to sigh, but more because she had also seemed less than thrilled with the idea.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," Mr. Medina continued. "_Romeo and Juliet_ is a little cliché for such a cool English teacher like me." He watched Rory chuckled along with the rest of the class. She glanced over at him and he smiled and rolled his eyes at Mr. Medina's statement.

"Which is why I have an added stipulation. As you all know, there are certain key scenes of _Romeo and Juliet_ that have been, well, done to death for lack of a better term. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it-"

"We have a choice?" Tristan asked, pretending to stand and leave and Rory mock glared at him.

"You have a choice as to whether or not you pass this class, Mister DuGrey." Tristan sat back down and Max shook his head, smiling at the class. "Your challenge for this assignment is that you have to make the scene you're given into something new."

"What do you mean 'new'?" Paris asked abruptly.

"I mean, Miss Gellar, that I want to see something different, something I've never before seen in _Romeo and Juliet_. You can set it in a night club, have a theme, you can do anything you want with it. The scene doesn't have to be considered as part of the play as a whole, but you can set it apart as a play in its own right. I want you to be imaginative, be expressive, but, most of all, be original. The other challenge will be the editing. Each scene must be reduced to five minutes only – no more and no less – and you will have to edit wisely; we still want to be able to understand what's going on.

"Now, to make this work, I've chosen the two most clichéd scenes of all; the balcony scene and the death scene. I will put you into groups of three: a Romeo, a Juliet, and a director – it's part of your process to decide who does what. However, the groups _have_ already been decided and the list will be posted by the door for you to check on your way out. I've tried to put you with people I think you'll work well with and whom I think will bring out the best in you and you in them. There will be no changing and no negotiating."

"Do we get to decide what scene we do?" Derek asked as the bell rang, signalling the end of class, and Max shook his head.

"That has already been decided and is written next to your names, along with a number. The number is the order you'll be on stage on the night. Now this project is not small trifle. Your interpretation of this text and the subsequent performance, along with a 2000 word dissertation on what your process and analysis, is worth fifty percent of your grade, so I suggest you do not take it lightly. Now, are there any questions?" When no one answered, Max nodded. "Good. I'll see you all next week."

Max walked to the door and pinned up a list as the class tidied up their things. Rory picked up her books and turned to Tristan and Derek with a smile.

"You got any ideas?" Derek asked hopefully.

"Sorry, I don't find out about these things any earlier than you do," Rory said and Tristan could tell that she was making sure that the others who were lagging behind to listen could hear her. He knew she wasn't unaware of the few people who had declared that Max probably told her what they were doing in class before hand, but she had decided to ignore it.

"Only one way to find out then," Tristan said with a smile.

They headed toward the door and he and Derek went straight to the list. He asn't ashamed, however, to admit that he was listening in as Rory stopped to talk to Max.

"If it's okay, I'm going to head over to Tristan's after school to study," she said and Max nodded.

"Of course, you want me to let your mom know?"

"Yes, please. I tried to call her, but she's got that meeting today and I don't trust Michel to tell her."

Max laughed and nodded. "Be home by eleven?"

Rory nodded and turned to Tristan as he approached. "Well?"

"You, me, and Madeline," he said. "We're on third and we have the balcony scene."

"Excellent, that sounds like much more fun. What about you?" she asked Derek, who sighed as he approached them.

"Jade and Henry, we're on last with the death scene."

"Oh, that's not so bad."

"I'm glad you approve," Max said, ushering them to the door. "I'll see you at eleven, Rory. Have a nice evening and don't blame me for being late to your next class."

xxxx

"So…ideas?" Rory asked, glancing at Tristan.

"I did read the book," Madeline said suddenly

He glanced at Rory and she frowned. "That's…good."

"Sorry. Louise said it was a waste of time, because Paris would fill her in and you'd have read it, but I wanted to read it. We never studied it last year, but I quite like Shakespeare. He's very good at saying something with lots of pretty words that he could have said with a few boring ones."

Tristan snickered and Rory grinned at Madeline. "Exactly, why use one word when you can use lots."

"Not to mention the added bonus that, years after your death, millions of people will sit around incorrectly analysing the text in order to figure out what that one word was," Tristan added and Rory nodded.

"Mass confusion wrapped in a pretty package."

"You're both very odd."

"Thank you," they said in unison.

"You're welcome."

"So," Rory said again. "Ideas?"

"Well," Tristan said, sighing and leafing through his photocopied pages. "I guess we should decide who'll direct and who's going to act."

Rory grinned. "Personally, I think Tristan should play Juliet."

"Funny."

"I try."

"Maybe we should edit first," Madeline suggested. "If we work on it then see if anyone has ideas?"

"Works for me," Tristan said with a shrug.

They worked through the text, beginning to edit until they realised that it might be a better idea to first translate the text into 'their' language before taking out something they might need later. They worked until the bell rang signalling the end of lunch and he turned to Rory and smiled as Louise approached them. They excused themselves before heading out to their next class.

"So, how much do you want to bet that Madeline is currently being treated to one of Louise's 'I can't believe you were _studying_ during your lunch hour' rants?" Rory asked.

He laughed. "She's got a lot to choose from, I hear she actually has a list so that she can vary which ones to give Paris ever day."

"I'm sure Paris appreciates that."

"I'm sure she does." Tristan smiled. "So, I can't help but notice you didn't seem too thrilled with the project."

"Not big on performance…or anything to do with it, really. I can analyse it and I always know how it should be said, but that doesn't mean I can ever do it."

"You'll be fine. We still haven't decided anything yet, anyway."

She smiled at him. "I know."

"So, we're still on for tonight?"

"Yep, will I just ride back with you? I mean if your parent's are having a party tomorrow night, are they going to be getting things ready, or-"

Tristan stopped walking and groaned. "Crap."

"What?"

"The party was moved to tonight. I'm sorry, I totally forgot."

She shrugged. "It's okay, you can come back to mine. We can study and order in some piz-eh, take out."

He frowned, but didn't question the sudden change. Instead, he simply asked, "You sure?"

"You're practically part of the furniture."

"Gee, thanks," he said wryly. "I better be the expensive, leather, lazy-boy."

"Well, you're a lazy boy-"

"That was so bad I don't even know why I'm commenting."

"But you did comment." She smirked. "As I was saying, we tend to think of you much like a pair of dog chewed slippers; no matter how gross they get, the dog just won't let you throw them out."

"That's…really gross."

"I try."

Tristan chuckled. "So, is this the week your mother treats us to a board game?" he asked, smirking.

"I'm serious, she will _eat_ you! Whatever you do, do _not_ play scrabble with her!"

"As fascinating as this conversation is, Miss Gilmore, Mister DuGrey." They turned to see Mr. Ward standing beside them bemusedly. "I think we may be best served entering the classroom."

xxxxx

Tristan chuckled as Lorelai growled for, what was by his count, the eleventh time. She sighed and glowered at them each in turn, not amused when she was met with amusement, or, in Rory's case, annoyance.

"I don't wanna play anymore," Lorelai said, pouting. She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms, and glared at the table.

"We've only had one go each!" Rory cried. "And you haven't even taken yours yet!"

"Yes, you're right, we have had one go each. One go in which you spelled 'Zesty' for _57 points_, Max got 'Arduous' for 12 points, Tristan managed to get 'Query' for _34 points_ and all I've got is '_poop_'!"

"There's nowhere you can put that," Rory said, frowning at the board, as the men chuckled.

"Gee, thanks, guys, nice to know the fact that the tiles are out to get me amuses you so much."

"Out to get you?" Rory asked.

"You think 'poop' isn't 'out to get me' when you guys get 'zesty', 'ardous', and 'query'?"

"_Poop_ is out to get you?"

"And we're done with the French fries," Tristan said, scrunching up his nose and pushing his food away from him.

"I only got 12 points, though," Max pointed out, trying to appease her.

"But you got rid of all but one letter and you get to choose whole new letters."

"Because choosing half letters would be silly," Rory said sagely.

"Oh, yes, please continue to mock me!"

"You just said that _poop_ was out to get you!"

"Look!" Lorelai cried, thrusting her letters tray at Rory. "How is that not out to get me?"

"Wow. That does suck."

"It can't be that bad," Max said frowning and she turned on him.

"Oh, no? Let me see, X, V, P, O, O, P, B, you're right, this game just _loves_ me. I told you, oh, did I tell you, but would any of you listen to me? Oh, no, not one little bit. I'm telling you, all those stupid letters that everyone hates and only really, really, really smart, 'I'd-memorised-the-dictionary-by-the-time-I-was-five' type people can ever get any use out of just gravitate towards me! They see my hand coming into the bag and just jump into it!"

"Does the fact that you can spell 'Ox' completely escape you?" Rory asked, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yes, please use your Chilton education, which I am funding through hours of my life, I might add, to continue mocking me." Lorelai glared. "I mean, really, can I get you a whip? Maybe some nun-chucks or maybe one of those chains with the ball on the end?"

"It's two letters."

"Oh, going for the big guns, I see."

Tristan frowned and turned to Rory. "Is this why you said you never play Scrabble with your mum?"

"She's vicious. I tried to warn you."

"I might listen next time. Although, you're just as bad."

Both Gilmore girls glared at him and he shot Max a look that clearly screamed 'help!'

"Why don't we play something else?" Max asked, reaching out to clear the board.

"Oh," Lorelai said, suddenly breaking into a grin. "Who wants to play 'Life'?"

"No!" Rory exclaimed.

"You're just sore because you always _lose_."

"You _cheat_!"

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Okay, girls, girls!" Max said, breaking into their argument. "Why don't we just forgo the board games and…do something else."

"We could have cake," Rory suggested.

"Oooh, cake!" Lorelai grinned as Max got up to cut them all a piece. "I got Sookie to make if for us, special. She said I could either have cookies or cake."

Rory frowned. "But we had cookies."

"I wore her down."

"What did you do?"

"I pulled a Patrick Swayze."

"You didn't!"

"I did. I just kept on going and going and going, like that stupid little pink bunny and she cracked under the pressure."

"Patrick Swayze?" Max asked and Rory's eyes widened. Before she could prevent it, however, Lorelai began to shout.

"I'm Henry the Eighth, I am! Henry the Eighth, I am, I a-"

Max clapped his hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry I asked."

"Never ask," Rory said emphatically. "You should know by now to never ask."

"So, you wore her down," Tristan asked as Lorelai nodded. Max cautiously removed his hand and, after a few outbursts resulting in it being clamped over her mouth again, she was silent.

"Cake?" she asked sweetly and Max complied by going back to finish cutting it.

"So you plan to have your cake _and_ eat it," Tristan said with a smirk.

"My God, don't they teach you how to actually be _witty_ at that fancy school? And, of course I'm gonna eat it. Who has cake and doesn't eat it? I mean, seriously, who just sits and stares at a cake? Why would anyone do that? Because it's pretty? I mean, who does that?"

"Eh, you do," Rory pointed out.

"Well, yeah…okay, but _eventually_, I eat it."

"Not always."

"When? When have I ever had cake and not eaten it?"

"Two years ago."

"What? When?"

"Lane's birthday."

"That wasn't cake. That was poison. Whole different form of torture, Mrs Kim style. It _jiggled_ for God's sake."

"Trifle jiggles," Tristan pointed out and she turned on him.

"Trifle has _jello_, it's supposed to jiggle. It's jello, it goes with the territory."

"Okay, fine," Rory continued. "But you have had cake and not eaten it."

"Again I ask you, when? Name one time and place and I will-"

"Sookie's birthday four years ago, she made a huge chocolate cake and you sat and stared and didn't eat it."

"It was _off_; stale; solid; inedible, even for a Gilmore! It was growing _mould_!"

"And _why_ was it growing mould? Why was a perfectly good chocolate cake sitting on our kitchen table for two _months _in the height of summer until it grew mould?"

"I…eh…don't remember."

"Because you said it was too pretty to eat. We had to stare at it and bask in its chocolate-y goodness and by the time you had driven yourself completely crazy wondering how good it tasted and actually tried it, you had one bite and were ill for four days with food poisoning."

"That was a pretty cake."

"I rest my case."

"So," Max said, still smiling and shaking his head. He was likely wondering what he was getting himself in for, Tristan mused, and loving every moment of it. "Cake all round?" He placed four plates on the table.

"I really have to get going, actually," Tristan said, running a hand though his hair and standing to leave.

"But cake!" Lorelai cried.

"Can I take it to go? We've got an early start in the morning and I promised Ellie I'd be back before she went to sleep."

"Oh, isn't that adorable, Rory," Lorelai teased.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll see you all in the morning."

"O-oh, no you won't." Lorelai chuckled, sighing at his supposed 'naivety'. "My dear, sweet, Tristan, you may have a pretty car, you may be stealing my only daughter and whisking her away to New York, but under no circumstances am I getting up at 5am for you."

"The 5am thing was her idea," Tristan said defensively, pointing at Rory. "My dear director is intent on killing me."

"Romeo's supposed to die," Rory said sweetly. "It gives me permission in the script. And we haven't fully decided on the role's yet. But I'll still use my permission. I have it," She repeated with a smile. "It says so in the script."

"Not in the balcony scene, it doesn't!"

"Well, I'm not talking to any of you until you tell me what I get to dress you up in," Lorelai said, huffily.

"I have no inclination to play dress-up, thanks," Tristan said warily. "It's hard enough trying to get Ellie away from me."

They all laughed and Rory grinned at him. "I definitely want to meet her."

"You'll see her in the morning. She's planning on doing a very embarrassing send off, from what I can tell."

"Will there be tiaras?" Lorelai asked, alarming him slightly in her exuberance.

"Why…would there tiaras?"

Lorelai mock gasped. "What is a proper send off _without_ a tiara, I ask you? Rory will back me up."

"You mean the Rory you publicly humiliated when she was five by dressing her in a pink tutu, a feather boa, and a _tiara_ and paraded her round the whole of Stars Hollow?"

"You loved it!"

Rory frowned. "It _was_ kinda fun."

"There will be no tiaras," Tristan reiterated. Then he thought about his sister. "I hope."

"Ooh, fun," Lorelai said, bouncing. "But I'm still not getting up for it. Rory, will you take me lots of pretty pictures?"

"What's in it for me?"

"My motherly affection, of course. Oh, and the fifty I'll palm you under the table when no one's looking."

"Consider it done."

"Right," Tristan interrupted, smiling and taking the wrapped up piece of cake Max handed to him. "I really have to go."

"I hope the party's over," Rory said, leading him to the door.

"It won't be," he said with a sigh. "But it's a nice thought. If I'm really lucky, I'll even make it to my room without being accosted by my mother's drunken friends."

Rory winced. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks. I'll need it." He grinned and leaned down to kiss her, only just realising what he was doing at the last minute. He cleared his throat and made to pull back, before changing his mind and kissing her gently on the cheek.

He felt her breath catch and smiled as she puffed air onto his cheek a moment later. Smiling, he pulled back.

"Good night, Rory," he said softly. She didn't answer, just nodded, continuing to stare at him wide-eyed.

His smile faltered a little. Until he realised something; she'd moved towards him first.

Grinning, he walked away, tucking his hands into his pockets and humming under his breath. His grin only widened when he spotted someone standing under one of the trees in the Gilmore's yard.

"Stalking is an arrest-able offence, you know," he pointed out smugly.

"Go play with your calculator, accountant."

"I'm sorry," Tristan said, looking at Dean in the same way he'd look at a pair of smelly old trainers. "Was that supposed to be funny? Oh, wait, I remember now, you have no sense of humour. Or a sense of intelligence or wit, and, oh yeah, you have absolutely _no_ sense of when you're not wanted."

Dean made a move towards him, but he was cut off by a voice ringing across the garden. "Tristan!"

He grimaced, but schooled his features before he turned around. "He was lurking, Mary. He was spying on you."

"Oh, Rory, come on! Can't you see what he's doing?"

"Just _stop_!" They both did as she asked and Tristan was fuming inside. When, exactly, had he started acting like an obedient little puppy? "God, you're both acting like children."

"He started it!" Dean yelled.

"You existence started it, Bag Boy."

"Tristan, just go home now!" When he turned to look at her, he was pretty sure his face made it clear how angry he was at that. "Please," she said softly. But it wasn't a request.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

Dean smirked as Tristan passed him. "She will always pick me," he said softly and Tristan had to force himself not to react. There was no way Rory had heard what her _boyfriend_ had said and he was really not in the mood to have to defend himself again.

Instead he got into his car and drove home. He was pretty sure he didn't stay in the speed limit for any of the journey.

xxxx

He was angry. In fact, 'livid' was likely a better term. He wasn't exactly sure, of course, whether or not he was more angry at Rory or at himself, but the fact remained that he was furious. He stormed through the hallway and entered the gents, taking great pleasure at the loud bang that accompanied him as the door slammed against the wall, rocking on its hinges. He walked across the room, ignoring the men around him that were giving him a wide berth and stood by the sinks, resting against his hands.

He let out a sharp breath and resisted the urge to kick the wall. Today was supposed to have been a good day, it was supposed to have been the first real, _full_ day he'd had Rory to himself. He was supposed to be suave and charming and he was supposed to have swept her of her feet by now. Instead the entire day had been an unmitigated disaster. Actually, he was pretty sure the whole thing had started last night when Dean had shown up.

"You okay, buddy?"

He turned and glared at the boy next to him. "What the hell do you care?"

"Well, I don't really, but, see, you're standing _right_ in front of the paper towels and, gee, look at that; I have wet hands."

Tristan growled and stepped aside. "Sorry," he ground out. There was something about the punk that instantly got on his nerves. That said, his anger was likely clouding any judgement.

"So, the little brunette givin' ya a hard time?" the guy asked with a smirk and Tristan decided that, yeah, he _really_ didn't like him.

"What's it to you?"

The boy shrugged. "Nothin'." He smirked again. Tristan briefly wondered it _he_ looked that annoying when he smirked. He quickly decided he couldn't possibly and continued to glare. "Bit of a spitfire, right?"

"I'm sorry, did I misread the sign on the door?" Tristan said angrily. "I don't remember walking into a support group."

"Wow, that's witty. Real intelligent. I can see what she sees in you. I mean besides the clothes that probably cost more than my mom's car. Did ya _just_ find out she was only in it for the money?"

"You have ten seconds and then I'm going to hit you."

"Thanks for the warning." The boy scrunched up the paper towels in his hand and threw them into the bin. "Maybe I'll go talk to her."

"Don't even think about it."

"What you gonna do? Follow through on your threat? Gee, I'm real scared."

"Just so you know," Tristan said, clenching his jaw. "I've already reached the final three seconds of that count down."

"You strugglin' with the last three? 'Cause I can help you out there."

Tristan raised his arm to punch just as the door flew open. He hadn't bargained on Rory Gilmore being ballsy enough to actually enter the gents toilets, but he'd have to rethink his estimation of her. If she ever decided to actually talk to him again. Not that he cared.

"Tristan! What the hell are you doing?"

"Tristan? Gee, that's a pretty name," the other boy said and Tristan raised his arm again.

"Tristan, stop!"

"In case you haven't noticed Gilmore, this is the _gents_ toilets."

"Well, if I see any _gentlemen_ I'll be sure to warn them that there are two apes in the restroom!"

"Hey, what did I do?" the other boy asked.

"I don't know and I don't care, but we're about to be thrown out, _again_, so I just thought I'd inform you that I'm going to finish looking through the museum and then I'm going home."

She spun on her heel and left, bypassing a rather confused looking business man on her way out. Tristan growled and ran a hand through his hair.

"You plannin' on following her?"

"What's it to you?"

The boy shrugged. "If you don't I might. She's very…"

Tristan chuckled wryly. "You have no idea."

The boy nodded his head. "So…what the hell did you do?"

"I really have no idea."

xxxxx

**_Nine hours earlier…_**

Tristan swerved the car into the next lane and fought back the urge to yawn. In demanding that they drive to New York, well, that _he_ drive, he hadn't bargained on Rory being intent on getting there quite so early. In fact, it was only just beginning to get light and they'd already been in the car for over half an hour.

Rory and Max had arrived at his front door that morning and, following a rather complicated and embarrassing conversation with Tristan's father where they had to explain that Luke wasn't Lorelai's husband, but that Max was her fiancé, Tristan and Rory had escaped into the kitchen. Things had been awkward to say the least, but they'd both studiously ignored what had happened the previous evening. He was pretty sure that had made him even angrier. He was fed up pretending.

They had been standing there in uncomfortable silence for less than five minutes before Ellie had barged in, demanded that she be introduced, and then dragged Rory up to her room to meet her dolls. Tristan had actually been rather amused by the whole thing. Rory had been expecting a sweet little girl and, whilst Ellie was often just that, his little sister was always very energetic and demanding first thing in the morning.

By the time they'd actually got into the car and Rory had called Lorelai to warn her about the 'Luke is Mr. Gilmore' thing, they were already running late by Rory's standards. His temper wasn't improving. He was, however, making a concerted effort to ignore the whole thing. As usual.

"So…poetry?" she asked suddenly, surprising him so much that he almost swerved the car off the road. "Please try not to kill us," she screeched, wide-eyed.

He grimaced. "Sorry."

"That's okay. Just drive carefully, please."

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

Rory slowly relaxed and turned to smile at him. "So," she said, continuing her previous conversation. "Poetry?"

"What? Girls think it's hot!"

"And so the truth comes out," Rory said, grinning and rolling her eyes.

"Look, that's how it started and I'm not some huge poetry buff, I just…know what I like and some of that stuff's good. I don't read it every night before I go to bed or anything." Rory nodded and he glanced at her briefly before turning his gaze back to the road. "How long have you wanted to ask that?"

"It's hardly been pressing on my mind, I just wondered."

"Fair enough."

"So…" she took a deep breath and snuggled back into the chair. "Have you got any ideas about the dance?"

He smiled. "You asking me to go with you?"

"How did you get _that_ from what I just said?"

"You know, Mary, I'm touched, really I am. I'll have to fight off all my other admirers for you, of course, but, for you? Anything. I'm all yours."

"Oh, boy."

He grinned, knowing they were playing on thin ice, especially after the previous evening. He found he no longer cared. "Seriously, we should go together."

Slowly she nodded. "I-I guess."

"Such overwhelming enthusiasm," he commented dryly.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "Whatever."

"So…" She was trying, but he was damned if he was helping her out this time. "If we do go together, what should we dress up as?"

"Well," he said, letting out a calming breath. "Famous movie couples gives us a lot to play with, but…"

"But? If you say Romeo and Juliet, I'm all for it."

"You are?" he asked curiously.

"Sure, I can watch you kill yourself," she said smugly.

"Alas, sweet Lorelai, with words like that, I die anyway."

"Oh, brother."

"Just getting into the spirit of things. I am, after all, your sweet and dear Romeo."

"We still don't know the parts."

"Last night you didn't want to be director, now you don't want to be Juliet? Make up your mind, Rory."

"What is your problem?"

He grunted. "Nothing. Nothing, as usual."

"Fine."

They sat in silence for a while and he began to feel guilty. That, of course, annoyed him even more, because he had _nothing_ to feel guilty _about_. Still…

"What about Jareth and Sarah?"

He glanced at her briefly, just in time to see her lips curl into a smile. "Labyrinth?"

He shrugged. "We both love the movie, why not?" He didn't point out that he felt they had a lot in common with the characters. Not that he'd steal her kid brother, or anything, if she had one, but the fact was that Jareth had everything and Sarah still looked down on her. Of course, Jareth never really understood what it was that she wanted, never understood that Sarah didn't want to be falsely treated like a princess and surrounded by lies.

And he couldn't believe he was analysing a damn film.

"Tristan?"

"Huh?"

"I said, that's a great idea."

"Cool."

"Do you want to do the ball scene costumes, or just the ordinary ones?"

He shrugged. "Whatever. I figure your mom might want to make them, so whatever she feels like."

"It means, tights, you know."

He shrugged. "I'll cope."

"It takes a very confident man to wear an outfit like that," she commented.

"Just as well I'm a _very_ confident man, then, isn't it, Mary." He was getting angrier at the fact that she was still ignoring everything, so he took a deep breath and just bit the bullet. "What about Bag Boy?"

"I don't want to talk about him."

"So we're going to keep ignoring it? This? Us?"

"Tristan, there is no-"

"Fine, whatever."

"Fine!"

"Fine."

xxxxx

"And then there was the accident with the codex."

"That was you that set off the alarm this morning?" the boy asked, laughing.

"It was an accident. She was still pissed at me and I…well, there was an incident with a group of Japanese tourists and I knocked against the glass."

"Did they detain you?"

Tristan shook his head. "Nah, one of the guards saw it happen. We were upstairs for about half an hour. That was it."

"That's kinda cool." The boy smirked. "So, this guy of hers sounds like a jerk."

"He is."

"So beat the crap out of him."

Tristan smirked. "I tried that once, guy's the Jolly Green Giant."

The boy shrugged. "So undermine him."

"Oh, I do."

"Piss him off, that'll really do it."

Tristan cocked an eyebrow at him. "Sounds like you're talking from experience."

"You have no idea. So…" The boy looked around. "We're still in the gents. Very Sex in the City."

"Yeah…I'm feeling a bit like I need to go do something manly."

"Good luck with that," the boy said, smirking.

"You're a jerk."

"Feeling's mutual."

He eyed the boy warily for a few minutes. "Tristan DuGrey," he said eventually, holding out his hand and, after a moment, the boy shook it.

"Jess Mariano."

"And _I_ have a 'pretty' name."

"Seriously, keep laughin'."

Tristan grinned. "Well, thanks, _Jess_. Here's hoping I never see you again."

"Likewise, jackass."

Tristan nodded and they both smirked before heading back out into the museum and going off in opposite directions. Tristan had to find Rory and he had to apologise…for now. He was going to have to be sneaky about it from now on, but he didn't care. He was happy being friends with her, but it wasn't enough anymore. He was falling in love with Rory Gilmore and he _knew_ she felt the same way about him. And Tristan was damned if he was going to be noble about it if that meant losing her forever to some tall freak from Chicago.

Tristan DuGrey would get the girl; he was going to make damned sure of it. Not only that, he was going to make sure that Rory Gilmore _wanted_ it that way.

xxxxx

**End of Chapter Eleven**

xxxxx

Okay, so, I know; cliché or what: having Tristan and Jess meet in the toilets at the museum? I don't care! I'm not bringing Jess into this one as a whole, but I wanted to have a cameo. I originally had planned for Rory to meet him, but this just kinda happened. As for the _ever-so-manly 'heart to heart'_ in the loos…yeah…sorry, that just happened, too.

Oh, and the teasers I left in the last chapter? Yeah, the 'costume party' is obviously the Autumn dance mentioned above and the others will appear soon, too! ;)

Also, I'm going to try to call Max 'Mr. Medina' in the narration when he's teaching. And for those of you that are thinking…wait a minute, he's teaching his soon-to-be-stepdaughter, that's not allowed…well…just wait.

Hope you enjoyed.

Don't forget to hit the wee review button and tell me what you think!


	12. She's My Cherry Pie

Okay, so, yeah, I've been AWOL for quite some time. I won't bore you with the details, just know that a lot has been going on in life and that this chapter was an absolute _nightmare_ to write. Seriously. I had so many issues with it. Hopefully it won't come across that way.

I appreciate every single review and thank you all so much for waiting either patiently, or impatiently, for this chapter!

xxxxx

**Chapter Twelve: She's My Cherry Pie**

xxxxx

"Oh, sweet mother of God!" Lorelai yelped, tumbling to the floor, her feet high in the air. The sound continued to blare around her. "Max!" she cried and a moment later he appeared in the doorway, smiling at her over the bed. He reached out and turned off the alarm, smiling at her.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said and she opened her mouth to reply when he turned to lean out into the hall. "Rory, we're going to be late!"

"Oh, God," she whimpered, dropping her head back to lie on the floor and hitting it off the bedside cabinet. "Ouch." She closed her eyes and hoped she was just having a really bad dream.

She heard movement beside her and opened one eye slightly, pouting at her fiancé. "Isn't this the point where you apologise for waking me?"

"No," he said, smiling and leaning down to kiss her. "You're due at the Inn in an hour."

"What was with the sonic boom?" she asked, her voice sounding a little too whiny even to her own ears.

"New alarm clock, Lorelai. Evil, but necessary."

"Yes, _very_ evil," she said, closing her eyes again. "My fuzzy clock just wasn't doing for you, huh?"

"'Fraid not," Max replied, tugging on her arm and trying to pull her dead weight to her feet. "Lorelai," he said, laughing and she conceded, allowing him to pull her up.

"I hate you and your stupid, and did I mention _loud_, alarm clock."

He kissed her forehead. "Pancakes are on the table."

"You're pretty," she said, smiling up at him. "I love you."

"So fickle." He laughed. "I'll get you down stairs. Rory and I have to leave in less than ten minutes or we'll be late."

"This new 'getting a ride to school and having breakfast at home' thing is turning my daughter into a lazy, late girl. I think you're a bad influence on her."

"Who kept her up until one in the morning watching reruns of _The_ _Waltons_ and teasing her about an age old crush on John Boy?"

"Erm…you?"

"I'll see you down stairs," he said with a laugh and exited the room.

She stared after him for a moment, still smiling. "I really do love you, Max Medina." She shook her head and headed for her wardrobe, almost tripping over her green skirt and having to hop and kick it out of her way. Finally free, she stumbled into the wall and whimpered, leaning her head against the cupboard doorframe.

"Today is so not going well," she mumbled, trying to ignore that she had only been up for two minutes and that did not bode well for the rest of the day.

She pulled out her favourite suit, pulling out a few loose threads and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower and then changing. Deciding that she really couldn't be bothered to do anything with her hair, she ran a brush through it and made her way slowly down the stairs.

"So, you were back late last night," she heard Max asking and something about the tone of his voice caused her to stop before entering the kitchen. She frowned and leaned closer, trying to get a gauge the conversation.

"Yeah," Rory replied. From Lorelai's vantage point she could see her daughter shifting slightly in her chair.

"Your mother was out for the count."

"You know, mom."

Lorelai could tell from the tone of Rory's voice that something was bothering her, but she also knew that Max was well aware of the fact. She wondered why he hadn't said anything when he woke her up, but decided to just wait and see how the conversation continued.

"Rory, is everything okay? Did something happen in New York?"

There was a stilted silence and Lorelai wasn't sure how to react when she realised that Rory clearly _wanted_ to talk to Max about this. She had always been the only person Rory had to turn to, she'd always been the only person Rory had in her life that she could talk about her problems…she wasn't sure how she felt about sharing that space with someone else. Even the man she was going to marry.

"You don't have to talk to me about it," Max continued. "I just…you know you can, right?"

"I went to see Dean."

"After you got back?"

Rory sighed. "Yeah, we talked. We're…okay, I guess."

"But?" There was no answer and Lorelai heard a chair being moved as Max sat opposite Rory. "But you're wondering if that was such a good idea."

"Tristan and I had a fight." Rory sighed again. "A big fight. I mean, since we started this whole 'friends' thing, everything's been good, great even. It's been…I like having him around, I _like_ having his friends around. They're _my_ friends too, now, and I just…I don't want to lose him."

"What did you fight about?"

"Dean."

"So, naturally, you reacted by going to Dean."

"Pretty much."

"Rory, can I be honest with you?"

"Of course you can."

"I like Dean and I like Tristan, but I think you need to decide what you want. Because it's one thing to be friends with a guy while you're dating someone, but if you have feelings for him that go beyond that then you're not being fair to the person that you're supposed to have those feelings for."

"I know."

"I know you do and I know you're mom's told you the same thing."

"In her own way."

Max chuckled. "She wouldn't be Lorelai otherwise. Rory, I'm not going to tell you what to do, I'd never presume to do that, I just think that you need to think a few things through, because you're going to get hurt."

"Aren't you supposed to stand up for men and tell me I'm hurting _them_?"

"Probably, but I'm a bit biased in this instance. I want you to be happy, Rory. You deserve it, but being scared of your feelings, being scared to live your life…that's not a way to happiness."

"I know. Thanks."

"Anytime."

"And Max?"

"Yeah?"

"You can, you know. Presume, I mean."

Max let out a breath. "That's…really good to know."

Lorelai listened to the silence. The comfortable silence that was broken only by Max finishing up the breakfast, broken only by the sounds of two people going about their morning routine, and she wondered when _she'd_ become the extra person.

She wasn't sure how she felt about Max giving Rory advice, wasn't sure how she felt about him treating Rory the same way she did. Lorelai loved that Max wanted to act like Rory's dad, she'd encouraged it, in fact, because having the two people she loved most in life fitting with one another meant so much to her. Somehow the reality of it was a little harder to accept. She just wasn't sure how she was going deal with it.

Shaking her head, Lorelai entered the kitchen and decided it was best not to act as if she'd been listening. "So, how was New York with Greek Boy?" Lorelai asked as her daughter as she took a seat at the table. "Uh oh, that is not a happy pout."

"There's such a thing as a happy pout?" Rory asked, glaring.

"Wow, somebody's snippy this morning."

"I am _not_ snippy."

"You're snippy," Lorelai sniped back, still smarting from the realisation that she was sharing her daughter. "So," she said, trying to calm herself. "What'd he do?"

Rory let out a sigh, sitting down and dropping her head onto the table. "We had a fight."

"Again; what'd he do?"

"I…I'm not even sure. He was just mad."

"Because of what happened last night?" Lorelai asked, smiling at Max as he placed her breakfast in front of her.

"I don't know," Rory said, shrugging, "maybe." There was a moment's silence before Rory looked up at Max. "Aren't we running late?"

"Yeah, we should probably get going."

Rory nodded and quickly went into her room to get her school bag, as Max collected his keys and his briefcase. Lorelai watched in silence, frowning to herself and wondering if it bothered her more that Rory had spoken to Max, or that her daughter clearly wasn't ready to speak to her.

"I'll come by the inn at lunch," Max said, leaning down to kiss her. "I have a few free periods this afternoon."

"You don't need to."

He smiled. "I want to. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mom," Rory called, but she was already out the door, with Max close on her heels…and Lorelai was left sitting alone in an empty house.

xxxxx

Lorelai stormed into her office, the door swinging shut with a slam behind her. It opened a few minutes later and Max entered, looking both bewildered and annoyed.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

"If I have to _tell_ you then, clearly, we're just not on the same wave length after all."

"I'm really not clear when we started arguing. Or what we're even arguing about."

"And I'm supposed to just tell you?"

Max frowned. "Well, that would be helpful."

"You just…ugh!" Lorelai began to pace. "You were being possessive and territorial and it was unnecessary!"

"I don't think I need to tell you that that guy was flirting with you and all I did was say hello."

"I'm angry!"

"Because I said hello?" Max asked, his ire beginning to rise.

"You were staking your claim and I have every right to be mad!"

"_You_ have every right to be mad? I'm not the one that told Tristan's father I was married to Luke."

"Well, that's probably just as well," Lorelai snapped. "I mean, you're just not his type."

"Lorelai."

"What?" She cried, throwing her arms up. "I didn't tell Tristan's father anything."

"You didn't deny it either."

"What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"Tell him the truth!"

"What? That I happen to take late night joy rides from a man who _isn't_ my fiancé? Yeah, that would've gone down well with the high and mighty. You knew I was asking Luke for a ride. You _suggested _it when you told me you were busy. Max, you work with these people, you've been in their company, you of all people know what that world is like."

"Yes, you're right, I do know that world. I'll tell you what else I know: for someone who threw that world back in her parents' faces-"

"You have _no right_ to talk to me about that," she cried, speaking over him.

"For someone who threw it back at them," Max reiterated, "to suddenly start following their rules? Maybe that tells me more than I want to know. Maybe it tells me that I'm fighting a losing battle here. My fiancé is going around telling people she's married to someone else. Where does that leave me, Lorelai?"

"I didn't say that!"

"What am I supposed to think?" He sighed and leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms. "I've tried to be supportive of you, Lorelai, I've tried to ignore that there's something between you and Luke-"

"There's nothing between us!"

"He loves you and…maybe you're not sure what you feel for him anymore."

There was silence around them and, when she remained silent, Max nodded his head. He took a deep breath and stood up.

"Okay…I guess that's my answer."

He remained where he was for a moment, before slowly turning away and walking out of her office. She wanted nothing more than to call after him, but something was stopping her. She wasn't sure what to think, but she knew that her heart felt like it was breaking.

She knew she loved Max, but she was so used to her life falling apart, she was so used to having to hold things together, that she didn't know how to act when they went right. But she knew one thing: she loved Max and she didn't want to lose him.

Just as she was about to go after him, the door suddenly flew open and she jumped as Max entered again.

"I changed my mind."

"You…what?"

"I'm not walking away this time. Do you love me?"

"Max."

"Lorelai," he walked right up to her and placed his hands on her hips, holding her in place. "Do you love me?"

"With all my heart."

He smiled a little. "I have to ask you and I need to you be honest with me. Please." She nodded. "Are you in love with Luke?"

"No," she said softly.

"Do you understand where I'm coming from with this?"

Lorelai sighed. "Luke has been in my life for a long time, Max."

"And I would _never_ ask you to cut him out of it. I just need to know that when you say 'I do' that you really _do_. I need to know that you will never wonder what it might have been like if he'd been the one standing next to you."

"I won't." She stepped into the circle of his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Max, do you want me to be honest with you?" He nodded, but she could tell part of him didn't want her to. "I _might_ have loved Luke. One day. I don't know, maybe there was always a small part of me that wondered what it might be like. I think, in the back of my mind, he was always an option. He was always a 'one day'. He's always been the one person that I knew would be in my life forever."

"I see."

"But I love _you_. I'll never know what it might be like to love Luke, I'll never know if we'd ever have tried, because I'm going to spend the rest of my life with _you_. And I'll never regret that."

"You'll never wonder 'what if'?"

She paused for a moment, staring into his eyes. "I really don't think I will. Not now. Maybe, if you hadn't forced the issue and the thought had taken me by surprise one day, then I might have."

"So, my pushing you was a good thing?"

"Don't get used to it. The only pushing in this marriage will be done by me."

He laughed. "I never doubted it for a second. Now, do you want to tell me what your mood today is about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, pulling away.

"Lorelai, do we have to go through this again?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Really?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Then explain why Sookie and Michele both looked relieved when I dragged you away. Why every one of your customers was giving you a wide berth and even Druella looked like she was afraid you might bite her head off."

"Wow, you're really spoiling for a fight today."

"I'm not the one looking for a fight, Lorelai, I just want to know why you've been cold and distant. Because, I'm pretty sure we just established that _I_ was the one with the right to be angry."

"I just told you there was nothing going on with Luke! God, are you going to bring that up every time we fight? Or are you just looking for excuses to get rid of me now?"

"No," Max said, shaking his head. "This is not happening again."

"What?" Lorelai cried. "What isn't happening again? Please tell me, because I sure as hell don't know."

"You're scared."

"What?"

"You're pushing me away again and I'm not going to let you. Not this time."

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're walking away from me, Lorelai. You're walking away from us."

"No," she said angrily. "_This_ is me walking away."

She spun on her heel and headed for the door, squealing in surprise when Max grabbed her wrist. He pulled her back around to face him, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her with as much passion as he could muster. She tried to fight him, but found that she couldn't; she didn't want to. Because, deep down, she knew she was being unreasonable. Instead, she melted into his arms and kissed him back, walking him over to her desk.

"Lorel-oh, right, sorry."

They pulled apart, but Max wouldn't loosen his grip as she peered over her shoulder at Sookie. "What is it, Sook?"

"Bandermans, both vegetarians?"

"Just him, she wants her stake rare."

"Match made in heaven," Sookie said smirking.

"Yeah."

There was a pause as Sookie continued so stand in the doorway, swaying slightly on her feet.

"Sook?"

"What?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows and Sookie jumped slightly. "Oh, right. Sorry, I'll just leave you two to…right, yeah. Oh, and I'm glad you're in a better mood. You should come over more often, Max," she called over her shoulder as the door shut behind her.

"I was _not_ in a mood!"

Max cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh, yes, you were."

"I wa-" He cut her off with a quick kiss and she attempted to glare at him when he pulled back. It ended up looking more like a pout. "That's playing dirty."

"I was under the impression that you preferred things that way."

"Why, Mr. Medina, are you trying to seduce me?"

"I think I might be."

Lorelai smiled and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She leaned her head forward to lean on his shoulder and let out a small growl.

"I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted. You want tell me what this was all about?"

"Rory."

Max frowned and nudged her head with his shoulder until she looked at him. "What about Rory?"

"You're in her life. She's attached."

"I thought we'd dealt with this problem the last time."

"We did. We have. I just…I'm not used to sharing her. I heard you talking to her in the kitchen this morning. She was talking to you and you were advising her and…I'm not used to…to her talking to another parent. Chris was never around, not like that, and…I don't want to be second best, I guess."

"Lorelai, you will _never _be second best to that girl. In fact, she could never be second best to anyone in your life either. I accept that and I admire it. If I overstepped my mark, I'm sorry. I just…I wanted her to know that I was there to talk to, but if you'd rather I wasn't then-"

"No, I want you to be there for her. I want her to be able to talk to you if she wants to, really, I do. It just took me by surprise. I wasn't ready for it. She's never really known the guys I've dated before you…but I've never really been in love before either." He grinned at her and she smiled back. "It's just gonna take some getting used to, I guess."

He nodded. "That's okay. Just…please don't keep pushing me away?"

"I won't. Promise."

"And no more husbands."

"I promise," she said, leaning up to kiss him.

"Good."

"Okay," Max said, pulling back. "I'm sorry, _what _is that taste?"

Lorelai grinned. "Max Medina!"

"What?" he asked grinning.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you." Max wagged his eyebrows at her and she laughed, pulling away from him and grasping his hand. She pulled him out of her office and through the main foyer towards the kitchen, smiling innocently at Michele as he tried to be nice to an elderly couple.

"Oh, that's glorious," Max said, grinning and taking in a deep breath as the kitchen door swung shut behind them. "What is that smell?"

"Hello again," Sookie said with a smile.

"What is that smell?" Max repeated.

Lorelai grinned and turned to Sookie, singing, "_Tastes so good make a grown man cry._"

"Max would you like a piece?"

Grinning, he nodded and accepted the pie Sookie handed to him. Taking a large bite, his eyes closed and Lorelai looked at him predatorily. "That," he said, not noticing the look in his fiancé's eyes and turning to the chef, "is amazing."

"Well, thank you, Max."

"What time do you need to be back at school?" Lorelai said suddenly.

"Not 'til last period, why?"

She grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him to the door, turning at the last minute to speak to her friend. "Tell Michele I'll be back in about an hour and a half. I need to go ravish this hunk of a man of mine."

"Will do," Sookie said grinning as Max turned to look at her briefly and shrugged, his face betraying his happiness. She chuckled as the door swung shut behind the couple and mentally added Cherry Pie to her list of desserts to make for the wedding.

xxxxx

Lorelai groaned and slammed the door of her car shut, kicking the tyres and pouting. There was actually nothing wrong with the car, but she had been detained longer at work than she had intended and she really needed to kick something.

After having a great break from work with Max that afternoon, she grinned at the thought, she had returned to find Michele in a worse mood than she had left him and to discover that they were four rooms overbooked for the following evening. She'd had to spend the rest of the evening calling the other hotels in the area to try and book out some of their guests and, by the time they were sitting at zero, she was irritable, cranky and tired.

If Sookie hadn't come up to her with more pie before she had left, Lorelai was pretty sure her mood wouldn't have been slowly slipping away the closer she got to the house.

"Hello, hello, hello!" she shouted, hanging up her jacket and making her way into the main room.

"Hey," her fiancé responded with a smile, turning down the volume on the television. She placed the box with the pie onto the table next to the phone and frowned as he turned to look at her.

"Max?" He smiled at her as she slipped around his legs and into his lap. "Max, what's wrong?"

He leaned in to kiss her softly and shrugged. "Headmaster Charleston is taking my class from me. It seems I'm no longer fit to be objective when it comes to Rory and some of the parents filed an official complaint."

"But you don't mark Rory's papers anymore," Lorelai said, affronted on his behalf.

"I know that, but it seems that doesn't matter. She already has live in 'help' and, therefore, I'm no longer allowed to have any input whatsoever in the entire _year_ group."

"That's ridiculous."

Max growled. "I don't think I'd be quite so angry if I didn't agree with him."

"What?" Lorelai asked, incredulous.

"If it were any other teacher, I'd probably have suggested they voluntarily arrange to move before the issue was even raised, you know what some of these parents can be like, but it never even occurred to me for our situation until it was too late."

"But you don't help Rory any more than the other kids."

"But I want to," Max admitted, shifting a little in his seat. "She doesn't need it, but sometimes when I see her studying really hard on something I know we're not going to use I want to tell her to focus elsewhere."

"But you don't."

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better, but, again, I have to admit that I want to. One day I might just give in."

Lorelai sighed and turned slightly in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Are we worth it? Worth screwing up your career."

Max chuckled. "You're hardly screwing up my career. I'll be teaching the same classes as last year, that's all. All I have to do is find a new and interesting way to teach the same material and I'll be fine."

"When do you change?"

"End of term," he said, sighing. "Which means I at least get to finish up the Romeo and Juliet scenes."

"I'm making the outfits," Lorelai said with a forced grin. "For Paris' group."

Max frowned. "For Paris' group?"

"She called me on my way home and before I knew it I'd signed my life away."

"Won't that conflict with what you're making for Rory?"

"My daughter doesn't need me!" she said dramatically.

"Never," Max said with a grin.

"Well, she doesn't need me at the moment. I figure I can get a good start on Paris' and see what Rory needs when she finally decides to talk to me. Hey, where is Rory?"

"She's with Tristan and the others. I gave her money for dinner and told her to be back by ten. I hope that's okay?"

Lorelai smiled. "That's fine. In fact, that's perfect. She won't be home for hours…and I have more pie."

xxxxx

The door clicked shut gently and Lorelai smiled as Rory lifted her head off her knees and smiled softly. She shivered slightly at the evening air and wished she'd brought a jacked out with her.

"Hey, you ready to talk yet?" Lorelai asked, slipping onto the porch swing next to Rory.

"Yeah, I guess."

"What's wrong? Is this about New York?"

"Yeah, well, kind of."

"Kind of how?"

Rory sighed. "I don't _know_. Why do I have to always know?"

"Oh, babe, it's okay," Lorelai said, pulling Rory in to lean against her. "It's okay to fight."

Rory pulled away and began to gesture emphatically as she spoke. "But we weren't supposed to be fighting! We were finally getting to spend time together away from Chilton, away from Stars Hollow, just…away! Things have been great and then we had a fight. We're just _friends_ and we had a fight!"

"Rory, friends fight. You and Lane fight. It's okay if you and Tristan argue."

"But…but I didn't like it. I mean, we argue all the time, but this was…"

"For real?"

"Yeah."

"Did you make up?"

"Well, yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

Rory sighed and launched into the explanation of the previous day, allowing pauses for Lorelai's comments and winces and stopping for a few good minutes when her mother almost fell off the porch swing, because she was laughing too hard imagining Rory and Tristan being escorted upstairs by security and having to explain they really weren't trying to steal the codex.

"-and then I stormed off. He chased me all the way to the bus station, apologised and managed to talk me to going back and getting in his car and then we drove in silence the whole way home. Today was awkward and the only reason tonight was bearable was because Derek sat between us and made sure to hit Tristan whenever he got snappy."

"That was nice of Derek."

Rory sighed. "Yeah…but it wasn't all Tristan's fault. I get kinda snippy when Dean's mentioned. I mean, I know they don't really know him, but they more I see Dean through their eyes, the more I realise that I'm changing the way I look at him."

"Well, that's what happens when you borrow other people's eyes. Things get all distorted."

Rory rolled her eyes then sighed. "Mom, I just…I don't know if what I'm thinking is because I'm thinking it, or because they are and I want them to still be my friends."

"Rory, I don't know them very well, but if they're like Tristan, then I can guarantee they're not going anywhere. You do not need to dump Dean to keep their friendship."

"I know," Rory said. "I'm making excuses."

"I think you are."

Rory stood up slowly. "I think I need to talk to Dean."

"I think you do." Rory headed for the porch steps and Lorelai frowned. "What, now?"

"If I don't go now, I won't go."

"Okay…just remember to follow your heart."

Rory nodded. "This isn't for Tristan, you know. This is for me."

"Okay, sure." Lorelai nodded and watched as her daughter quickened her pace into town, almost as if she had to run or she'd turn and head back to hide in her room. Hearing the door click behind her, she smiled over her shoulder at Max.

"Where's Rory?"

"She went to talk to Dean."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Lorelai smiled. "But she assured me that it has nothing to do with Tristan."

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," Max said, wrapping his arms around Lorelai from behind as Rory disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah," Lorelai said softly, "yeah, me too."

xxxxx

**End of Chapter Twelve: She's My Cherry Pie**

xxxxx

Okay, so finally Rory and Dean are going to talk…all I have to do is get my muses to cooperate!

I'm hoping to get started on the next chapter asap. I'm hoping that, now that Gilmore Girls is done (and allow me to whinge about the fact that they managed to successfully blow every one of my ships out of the water and into millions of tiny little pieces), the muses might cooperate and let me get writing.

Once again, thank you all so much for all your amazing reviews for this fic and I'm so sorry for the delay. Please feel free to hit the wee button and leave a review :)


	13. Thunderbolts and Lightening

**Notes:** Okay, so, yeah, thanks so much for the reviews. I'm glad that so many of you have stuck around, despite the huge delay in updates. I know a lot of you weren't too chuffed with the all Max/Lorelai, where is Tristan chapter, but it really was necessary. Lorelai/Max is a huge part of the storyline and it needed to be addressed in true Lorelai fashion. Hopefully this chapter will make it up to you all!

This part is for Sarah Plescher, who sent me a very nice feedback email and requested another update. I hope you enjoy.

xxxxx

**Part Thirteen: Thunderbolts and Lightning**

xxxxx

Rory frowned and wrapped her arms tighter around her body. She was wearing warm enough clothes, but somehow she felt as if she needed the protection. Taking one last deep breath, she picked up a small stone and threw it at Dean's window. She missed entirely.

"Damn it," she muttered, picking up a few more stones and throwing them one at a time. When she realised that she wasn't really getting anywhere, she eyed the tree warily and decided to chance her luck and just climb it. It wouldn't be the first time, after all.

When she reached the top, she debated climbing back down. Suddenly what she was about to do seemed so much scarier when she was perched at the top of a tree with no easy escape route. Bracing herself, she tapped the window. A moment later she heard the volume of Dean's television go down and lightly tapped again.

When he pulled back the curtain, he didn't smile. Instead he frowned and looked past her down to the street, as if he was looking for something. Seeming satisfied, he opened the window, but didn't invite her in.

"You didn't bring the accountant this time?" he asked icily.

This really wasn't going the way she'd hoped.

"Tristan and I aren't talking at the moment and even if we were I wouldn't bring him here."

"Rory, you brought him here last night."

"No," she said frowning. "He dropped me off last night after an awful day in New York, where we spent the entire time arguing. Dean, I didn't come here to talk about Tristan."

"Then why did you come, Rory?" he asked, sighing. "Because it seems to me that all we do now is talk about him."

"You mean argue?"

Dean smiled a little. "Yeah, okay, argue."

"Tristan seems to be the only thing we argue about anymore." Rory waited to see if he would get what she was talking about.

"What does that mean?"

"Dean, I just…we never have friendly arguments anymore. We don't fight about what movies to see, or what food we want to eat, or even pizza toppings," she said, trying not to let her mind wander to the last argument she'd had about that very thing.

"And that's my fault?"

"No, Dean, it's not your fault. I just…why is it so different? Why can't things go back to the way they were?"

Dean sighed and leaned against the window ledge. "I don't know, Rory. I've only ever wanted to make you happy."

She smiled. "I know that. I like that. But couples are supposed to fight about silly things and we don't anymore. It's like we're both too scared to upset each other and I just…I don't want a Stepford boyfriend, Dean."

"Right." Dean stood up and let out a breath. "I get where this is going."

"Dean-"

"No, Rory, it's fine. You did what you came to do. You successfully broke up with me again. That's fine."

"You broke up with me the last time!"

"Because I told you I loved you and you just sat there!"

"I didn't know what to do!"

Dean nodded. "I guess that really should have been answer enough. I should never have come to Chilton that day, should I?"

Rory sniffed and looked down, trying not to let him see the tears that were streaming down her face. "I think I'm going to go."

"I think you should."

She turned to climb down the tree again, pausing when she heard him let out a breath and felt his hand grip her arm. She turned around to find him regarding her with and almost-smile.

"Rory, I…I don't want this to be like last time. I'm angry just now, because, whether you want to admit it or not, this has something to do with Tristan. But I don't want to ignore you and I don't want you hiding from me. I just…give me some time and then maybe we could try being friends? Who knows, maybe one day we could try again."

Rory smiled and swiped the tears from her cheeks. "I'd like that. I like being friends with you."

"Just give me some time."

"I will."

Dean nodded and turned to glance at the door. "I think there's someone coming."

"Okay, bye."

She climbed slowly down the tree as Dean closed the window behind her. When she made it down to the street again, she glanced up to see his light snap off. There were shadows flitting across his curtains from the television, but Rory didn't stand around watching for much longer.

She had another person she needed to speak to.

Hurrying through the almost empty streets of Stars Hollow, Rory quickened her pace the closer she got to home. When she jogged up the steps to her house, she wasn't surprised to see her mother and Max sitting on the porch swing, making out like teenagers.

"Oh my God, you owe me so much therapy!" she called as she entered the house. She couldn't make out what her mother shouted back, but smiled as she picked up the telephone and made her way into her room.

She kicked the door closed and walked over to lie on her bed, dialling his number as she went. After a few rings, there was a cheery voice answering at the other end.

"Hey Ellie, it's Rory, Tristan's friend. What are you doing up at this time?"

"Hi Rory! Mom and Daddy are away and Jason's in the study pretending to be Daddy. I'm hiding from Anya!"

Rory smiled, knowing that Anya (the maid who was in charge of Ellie) was likely running around in a flap. "Maybe you should let Anya know where you are, Ellie, it's late."

"You sound like Tris."

"Speaking of your brother, do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, he's in his room with Summer."

Rory felt her heart plummet. He was with Summer and she had just dumped her boyfriend. She was truly alone. She hadn't planned to start dating Tristan, no matter what anyone else thought, but she truly loved having him as a friend and, with Summer back in the picture, there was no way Rory was going to be kept around.

Ellie was still talking to her and Rory had barely realised that the phone was being handed to Tristan when she muttered, "sorry," and hung up.

She curled into a ball and threw the phone across the room, tucking her head under the pillow and ignoring the world. No matter what else had happened, she had dumped her boyfriend. She deserved a little time to wallow.

xxxxx

Rory's eyes fluttered open when she registered a dip in the bed beside her. Her face felt puffy and her eyes were crusted shut in the corners. Basically, she felt like death warmed up and she didn't want to talk to anyone. Seeing Lorelai's concerned face, however, she took a deep breath and smiled wanly.

"I broke up with Dean."

"Oh, sweetie, how are you holding up?"

Rubbing away the sleep from her eyes, Rory took a moment to think and, when she realised that the boy her thoughts were resting on wasn't Dean, she sighed.

"I'm okay. We're going to try to be friends when he's not angry anymore. I really hurt him."

"I think you both hurt each other. Rory, he wanted more than you were willing to offer and I bet if he was being honest, he'd admit that he already knew that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Now, do you want to tell me why Greek Boy is currently doing the fandango in our living room, because it is very, _very_ frightening me."

"Tristan's here?"

"Came hurtling through the night like a bat out of hell."

"Oh, boy, are you done yet?"

"As soon as you can tell me why Greek Boy decided to run to the hills."

Rory groaned. "Stop."

"Tell me why he's here."

"He's out there waiting."

Lorelai smiled. "Then be quick."

She sighed. "I wanted to apologise for being so snippy and to tell him that I wanted to go back to being friends. And…I though I should tell him that I'd broken up with Dean."

"So you _really_ broke up with Dean," Lorelai said, squeezing her knee.

"Yeah."

"How'd that go? Really."

Rory shrugged. "Okay. I think he's more angry because he thinks it has something to do with Tristan."

"Hon, I think he might be right."

"Mom, not now, please?"

"Okay," Lorelai said, nodding. "So you came back to call Tristan and tell him you'd broken up with Dean, even though he apparently had nothing to do with it."

"Mom."

"Sorry. And?"

"Ellie answered the phone. She told me he was in his bedroom with Summer."

"That stupid bint who dumped him last year and threatened you last week."

"Bint? Mom, you have got to stop watching _Buffy_."

"But Spike has that _hot_ British accent and he gets to use cool words like 'wanker'."

"Which just sound silly unless you're British." Rory frowned. "Is Max with him?"

"With Spike? Oh, Rory, do I have to give you the 'TV isn't real' talk again?"

"I gave _you _that talk. You tried to tell me it _was_ real. For years."

"I'm a cool mom."

"Yes, you're a cool mom," Rory said smiling. "Is Max with Tristan?"

"Yeah, I left him with the caged animal. I hope he doesn't get cat scratch fever."

"Oh God, I'm going," Rory said, standing up and heading to the door. "Just stop with the songs."

"Wait, I didn't work tush in yet!" Lorelai called after her.

Rory felt nervous as she walked into the living room. She instantly caught sight of Tristan, who _was_ pacing the floor like a caged animal. She smiled briefly at Max, but wasn't given the chance to say anything as Tristan spotted her.

"Rory, Summer wasn't in my house."

Rory blinked. She glanced at Max, who smiled and walked past her to the kitchen, squeezing her shoulder on the way. She smiled at him gratefully as she heard her mother calling him.

Turning her attention back to Tristan, she realised that he looked rather untidy. His shirt was un-tucked, his hair was wet and messy and he had a frantic edge to him that she wasn't sure she had ever seen before.

"Rory," he said again. "I swear, Summer wasn't in my house. Ellie heard me talking to her on the phone earlier. She asked if she could come 'round and I said no. I just got out of the shower when Ellie came in with the phone."

"Oh." Rory cleared her throat. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Her lips quirked briefly into a smile and she nodded. "Okay."

Tristan's whole demeanour changed. His shoulders relaxed and he let out a breath, closing his eyes. Sighing, he flopped back onto the couch and shifted slightly to make room for her. He held out his hand and she took it, letting him pull her onto the couch next to him. They were pressed against each other up her entire left side and she felt utterly content to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't felt this at ease with him since that first weekend and she had missed it. Which, she supposed, was slightly odd since their friendship had only really been in place for a few weeks.

"I broke up with Dean," she said softly, a few minutes later. She felt him tense and saw him open his eyes to glance at her.

"Oh. You okay?" he asked softly, squeezing her hand.

She hadn't even realised they were still holding hands. She squeezed back and nodded, leaning her forehead against his shoulder. "I'm okay. We're going to try to be friends. After he stops being angry and upset."

"Are you angry and upset?" Tristan asked warily.

"No…just sad. We were together for a long time and he's a good friend. I know you don't like him, but I do and I'll miss him being here."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"Rory?"

"Yeah?"

Tristan cleared his throat. "Why d'you hang up when you thought Summer was there?"

She sighed and leaned into him a little more. "Not now, Tris, please."

"Okay. But-"

"Soon, just…not now."

He leaned against her head and she felt him smile into her hair. "Okay."

They sat in silence for a while, hearing only the murmur of voices from the kitchen. It was strange to her that she could feel so relaxed and content after what had happened that night and it wasn't that she didn't feel anything, because she did. It didn't matter that Tristan and his friends didn't really like Dean and it didn't matter if she no longer thought Dean was the guy for her. He was her friend, he had been a huge part of her life and he was truly one of the nicest guys she'd ever met. Her mother was right. He'd been the perfect first boyfriend for her and she didn't want to let that go. Even though she already had. She knew she'd had to, because she wasn't being fair to him, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.

Sitting as she was with Tristan, however, made things a little better. She wasn't ready to analyse things with him just yet, but she was more than happy to admit that she wanted him in her life. She wanted to banter and argue with him and she wanted to be able to sit in contended silence on her couch with nothing else to worry about.

"Can things stay like this?" she murmured.

"Sure," he said softly. "I might need to petition to take my keys out my back pocket at some point, though," he said and she chuckled.

"Nope. I'm happy like this."

"Yeah, me t-"

There was a sudden ringing and Rory jumped. Tristan grunted when her head connected with his eye. She gasped and he chuckled, letting go of her hand to rub at his eye. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and groaned before answering.

"Jason," he said, resignedly. Rory watched as he shifted and pulled his keys out of his back pocket, listening to everything his brother was ranting about at the other end of the phone.

"Fine," Tristan said, rolling his eyes. "Put her on. No, I won't tell y-" he trailed off again, listening, and Rory turned as Max and Lorelai entered the room.

'You okay,' her mother mouthed and Rory nodded and smiled at Max, who was looking concerned.

"-then just put her on!" Tristan growled, attracting their attention again. "Fine, just put her on." There was a moment silence before Tristan visibly relaxed, his shoulders dropping as he smiled. "Hey, Ellie-belle," he said softly. "No, I'm not mad at you, I promise. I'm sorry I ran out. I told you to go to bed, didn't I?" There was a pause and Tristan shifted when he realised that Rory was grinning at him. "I promise. No, Rory's not mad at you either."

"Can I talk to her?" Rory whispered and he nodded.

"I promise she's not. Do you want to speak to her? Okay, but you have to be quick, because it's _way_ past bed time."

Grinning, Rory took the phone off him and settled against his side again. "Hey Ellie."

"Hi Rory," the girl said softly and Rory could tell that she'd been crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Are you mad at me, 'cause I was wrong when I said Summer was here?"

"No," Rory said, cringing, "I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry."

"'Cause Tris was real upset when you didn't speak to him. He wanted to know everything you said and everything I said and I didn't know, because I thought she came over when I heard him talking to her and I didn't know he was on the phone and-"

"Ellie, it's okay! I promise it's okay. I'm not mad and neither is your brother."

"That one might not be," Ellie said softly, "but this one is. Can we swap?"

Rory snickered when she heard Jason chastising his sister. "I think I'll keep this one, sorry."

"Only if you keep me, too," Ellie replied and Rory laughed.

"It's a deal. But you have to go to bed now. You have school tomorrow and it's really late."

"Are you going to bed, too?"

"Yes," Rory said. "I am."

"Okay, good night, Rory. Don't let the bug beds bite!"

Rory frowned. "You mean the bed bugs?"

"Nope!" the girl replied and Rory frowned as Tristan chuckled. She didn't think he could hear Ellie, but he could clearly tell what they were talking about.

"Okay, good night, Ellie."

"Can I say night to Tris?"

"Sure you can. Bye."

Rory handed the phone back to Tristan and waited as he said good night to his little sister. A moment later, she could tell he was speaking to his brother. There was a short, heated exchange before Tristan hung up.

"Everything okay?" Lorelai asked in the silence that followed.

"Yeah, I didn't realise I'd scared Ellie when I left. I told her to go to bed, but I didn't realise she hadn't done it. She told Jason to shut up and go away, because she wasn't moving from the front door until I got back."

Rory snickered. "I'll be he loved that."

"Spitting bullets, Mary."

"Bug beds?" Rory asked.

"Sorry, it's a brother sister thing," he said with a wink and Rory pouted.

"Well, as much as I hate to interrupt, it's late and we all have to be up early tomorrow," Max said, as Lorelai yawned.

It was at that point that Rory noticed they were both ready for bed. She frowned and looked at her watch, her eyes widening. She turned around and smacked Tristan hard on the arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Look at the time! No wonder Ellie and Jason were worried sick."

"It wasn't this late when I left," he said, rubbing his arm. "There was an accident on the road, so I was delayed a bit coming over."

"He's also been here about an hour, Rory," Lorelai pointed out. "You guys have been in here a while."

Rory frowned. She knew they'd been sitting for some time, but it hadn't seemed liked that long to her.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Tristan said with a frown. "You wanna kiss it better?" he asked, holding his arm out and winking.

"No thanks, I think you should suffer."

"You wound me, Mary…no, really, you have."

"Okay, before you guys get started," Max interrupted. "It's time to say good night." As if in response, Rory yawned, setting them all off one at a time.

"See," Lorelai said, pointing at her Rory. "Contagious!"

Tristan chuckled and got to his feet. "Okay," he said, picking up his keys and heading for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said to Max and Rory. "Good night."

"God, Tristan," Lorelai said, stopping him in his tracks. "It's 2am and you're exhausted. The only directions you're taking are full turn at the doorway followed by a head on collision with the couch."

Tristan frowned. "Are you sure?"

"We're sure," Max said, going to get blanket from the cupboard.

"I'll call your brother and let him know," Lorelai said, holding out her hands. He threw his cell phone to her and she headed for the kitchen.

"I didn't mean to put you all out," Tristan said feebly as Max returned with pillows and blankets.

"You're not," Rory replied and Max nodded.

"You're practically part of the décor," his English teacher said with a smile. "We'll see you in the morning. Do you have a uniform with you?"

"There's a spare one in my car for emergencies," Tristan said, rubbing his eyes. "Lucky I keep one, really," he said, aiming his statement to Rory.

"That wasn't my fault!" she cried. "Brian was the one who threw it at you!"

"And I'm sure Brian was the one who had the idea, as well. And I'm sure he was the one who knew what to mix together to make that smell and colour."

Rory frowned. "Chemistry is Brian's best subject. He already knew it before I mentioned-" Tristan smirked. "You rat!"

"You just admitted your guilt, Mary, and I have a witness."

"Who is easily bribed by my charming smile and pleasant nature," Rory responded, grinning at Max.

"Wow, your brother is a regular Melvin Udall," Lorelai said as she returned, handing Tristan his phone back.

"More like the Grinch," he replied, grinning.

"Who's Melvin Udall?" Max asked, frowning.

"_As Good as it Gets_?" Lorelai asked, but he shook his head. "We have got to educate this man, Rory."

"Well, not tonight," Max said, steering Lorelai towards the stairs. "Both of you get to sleep," he finished with a smile.

"We will." Rory smiled. "Good night."

"Good night, Rory, Tristan."

"Night," Tristan called.

Rory smiled as he turned towards her and she impulsively hugged him, "Good night," she whispered and turned quickly, running into her room.

"Good night, Mary," he called after her.

She shook her head and took a deep breath, changing and quickly climbing into bed.

A few moments later she heard Lorelai laughing upstairs and it was followed by a loud, "Good night, John Boy!"

Rory chuckled, grinning as she heard Tristan's laughter floating in from the living room. Her night hadn't started off well, in fact her whole day had pretty much sucked, however, the evening had finished off better than she could have imagined. It was the first time in a while, she'd fallen asleep smiling.

xxxxx

"Is it always like this?" Tristan asked as he helped himself to some pancakes.

"Every day," Rory said with a smile as they heard Lorelai and Max mock arguing about breakfast. "He tried to make different things, but we wore him down to pancakes every day. We don't even have to ask anymore," she finished with a smile. "But Mom still likes to pretend that he got it wrong and he still plays along until he admits he made pancakes."

"You eat pancakes every day?" Tristan asked, frowning. "Don't you get sick of them?"

"He makes different kinds and I think we'll change our minds next week. We'll wake up to pancakes and ask for something different. It's our way."

Tristan laughed. "Well, I think you're lucky." He helped himself to more pancakes and Rory turned as Max came into the room.

"Her highness will be down in a minute."

Rory grinned. "We're almost done. Tristan offered to drive me into school."

"So naturally, you took him up on the offer so you wouldn't be seen with me this morning," Max asked, grinning cheekily.

"Well, it doesn't do much for my coolness factor arrive with my dad every day. Makes me look like a looser." Rory grinned and took an extra pancake, watching Max out of the corner of her eyes.

She'd worded that statement purposefully. She wanted to see if she could see what everyone else did. She knew that Max appreciated that she thought so much of him and, no, he wasn't her dad. She already had a dad, but that didn't mean she couldn't have two and she wanted Max to know that. She'd never call him dad, but she could refer to him as one and she wanted him to act like one, because Christopher couldn't be there for her. Christopher _wasn't_ there for her every day. And at that moment, as she surreptitiously studied him, she finally understood what it meant to Max that she let him fill in that role, she could see what everyone else saw, what Tristan had seen. And it made her smile.

"You ready, Tris?" she asked and the boy nodded, not unaware of what had taken place. "See you at school, Max," she said, nipping into her room and picking up her bag. When she came out, Tristan had already gone to get the rest of his things and Max was still staring at her. Grinning, she hugged him and headed to the door. "Bye."

"Yeah," he said softly, still smiling. "See you at school, Rory, Tristan."

Smiling to herself, Rory took a deep breath and followed Tristan to the door. "See you later, Mom!" she called, shaking her head at Lorelai's sudden rush down the stairs.

"You were just going to leave?" her mother asked. "Without seeing your only mother? Without talking to her and telling her to have a good day and-"

"Oh, boy," Rory shook her head and smiled. "Good morning, I'm going to school."

"Okay, fine." Lorelai smiled. "Good morning, Greek Boy. See you both later. Bye, babe."

"Bye."

They hurried out the door and into Tristan's car and Rory yawned. "Today is going to be long."

"Yeah, I think I might nap during geography," Tristan said with a wry smile, snapping his seatbelt on and starting the engine. "Mrs C. likes me."

"Not enough to let you sleep."

"It's worth a try," he said, shrugging and pulling out onto the road.

"Is it worth a suspension?"

xxxxx

"What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?"

"No, Madeline, sound affronted, not clueless," Rory said, trying to ignore the smirk Tristan was sending her way.

"Sorry, I thought that was right. The line was right, though, wasn't it?"

Rory smiled. "It was great."

"But it doesn't feel natural." Madeline frowned. "Wouldn't it work better if we were talking like we are now? I mean, isn't that the point? I thought that was the point. Sorry."

"No, you're right." Rory sighed, glancing at her notes again. They'd been working on the scene every waking moment that wasn't spent in school. They'd spent weeks trying to get everything to fit together, but, even now that they had edited the script and decided what they wanted to do with it, nothing was coming together the way any of them saw it in their heads.

"Look, I really don't want to start a fight," Tristan said, already holding up his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Starting a conversation that way is just _asking _for one," Rory pointed out.

"Fair enough, but," he continued, "it seems to me that Madeline is the one who has the whole picture in her head."

"I don't mean to keep interrupting," the girl said. "I just thought-"

"No, it's not that," Tristan assured her. "I Just think that maybe…"

"You think Madeline should direct," Rory finished and he nodded. "It's okay, I agree. I'm just not that enamoured with the idea of acting."

"You want _me_ to direct?" Madeline asked.

"Yeah, I think you know what to do already. You can see it and you know what to do to make it seem more like its modern day."

"We could change it," the brunette suggested.

"No, I like the modern day thing, I think it's a fresh idea. I mean, fresh in that it's not fishnets and fish tanks and drugs," Rory finished, shuddering at the idea of redoing the on-screen version. She liked it well enough, it just wasn't what she had in mind.

"If you're sure…"

Tristan nodded. "I think we're sure. If we can get Mary to relax, then we'll be great."

Rory mock glared at him. "Maybe it's just my co star," she said, making sure to keep her voice light, so as not to touch on the one topic they had avoided in the two weeks since her break up with Dean.

"Mary, you wound me."

"Okay, I'll direct." Madeline nodded and smiled at them, before ushering Rory to take her place and sitting on Rory's bed with her script. She picked up Rory's discarded pencil and began to write notes on her script.

"Something tells me we've created a monster," Rory commented and Tristan nodded, pretending to be terrified.

Madeline just grinned. "Okay, so, start again. Rory, sit by the window with your book."

"Yes, ma'am!"

As they took their places, Rory stared out the window, trying not to think about the fact that she would have to pretend she was in love with Tristan in front of the entire school. She picked up the book Madeline had left there and pretended to leaf through it.

The words seemed to come at the right time, they'd gone through the script often enough that they all knew their version off by heart, and she felt less nervous every time she looked into Tristan's eyes. Madeline interrupted with comments such as, 'Rory, try not to move like you're doing it because I told you to', 'make it natural', 'I don't believe you' and (Rory's personal favourite) 'Tristan, if you tap your finger against your arm one more time, I'm going to cut it off'.

They worked through the script so many times, that it almost did feel natural to follow his lead, or to lead him, to pick up her cell phone (well, Tristan's) when Madeline rang it, and the small almost-arguments felt most natural of all. When they'd finished the script for the fifth time, they mutually agreed to stop.

"Luke's?" Rory asked and they both nodded in assent. Madeline had been to her house enough that Luke's was familiar, but not enough that she felt entirely comfortable sitting at the kitchen table with her English teacher. It made Rory appreciate Tristan's almost instant acceptance of Max all the more.

"We're going to Luke's," Rory called as they entered the living room. Max was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting impatiently for Lorelai.

"Okay. If you could hurry your mother up first, I'd appreciate it."

"In my sixteen years of life, I have never been able to make Lorelai Gilmore move at any pace other than her own," Rory said with a smile. "Sorry."

"That's okay," Max said, chuckling. "Do you need money?"

"No, I have change from yesterday."

"Okay, don't be too late. Lorelai! You're going to miss your flight."

"I'm coming!" Lorelai came hurtling down the stairs, with two suits over her arm. "We've been invaded by teenagers again. Max, didn't I tell you to lock the door?"

"I did," he replied, taking the suits and putting them in the open case by his feet. "They had a key."

"Darn, should've remembered that one. Hey Tristan, hey Madeline."

"Hi Lorelai," they replied in unison.

"Oh, look, some of the Brady bunch came to visit."

"The Brady bunch?" Tristan winced. "I'm not sure if that's better or worse than The Waltons."

"Pipe down, John Boy."

Rory glared at her mother. It didn't matter that Tristan didn't get the joke, she wasn't amused.

Lorelai winked. "Okay, am I ready to go?"

"You're ready to go," Max clarified.

"Right. You guys will be okay?" she asked.

"We'll be fine, right, Rory?"

"Right."

"Okay," Lorelai said. "If you're sure."

"We're sure, Mom."

"Because I can cancel. It's not like Mia gave me much warning. Stupid convention thing. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing and I have to give a talk? Why me?"

"Because you're pretty," Rory said, nodding sagely.

"Well, as long as that's being recognised, I guess I can go. But I had better hear stories of wild parties and strippers." She frowned and turned to Max. "But only from Rory, not you. You should be preparing to become a married man."

"I'm preparing."

"Good. Now moosh!"

Shaking his head, Max picked up her bags and headed to the door. "Rory, make sure you lock up and don't be too late."

"I won't." Rory turned to her mother and was instantly wrapped up in a hug.

"Be good, kid."

"I will."

"Don't forget about me."

Rory frowned. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Lorelai gasped. "Mean!"

"I'll see you in three days, Mom."

"See you soon. Bye Tristan, by Madeline. Bye, babe." Lorelai ran out the door.

Rory grinned and picked something up from the table. "Five, four, three, two…"

"Shoot!" Lorelai came running back into the house and grabbed her bag from Rory. "Thanks, bye!"

xxxxx

"So you think it's working?"

"I think it's working, Madeline," Rory assured her and Tristan snorted.

"Trust me, you're a natural. Have you been taking lessons from Paris?"

"Nope," Madeline grinned. "This is all me."

"You should think about a career in directing," Rory said, quickly thanking Luke as he gave them their food.

"I thought you were directing," Luke asked, frowning.

"I was, but we let Madeline have a go. She's better." She turned to her friends. "Luke is a Shakespeare buff."

"I am not a Shakespeare buff! You know what, I'm leaving, that's what I'm doing." Luke turned and walked away as they all laughed.

"So, not long until the dance," Madeline said, excited. "You're going together, right?"

"Yeah," Rory said, trying to ignore the feeling she was getting at the thought of being Tristan's date for the evening. It was a feeling that had been growing a lot over the last few weeks.

"Who are you going with?" Tristan asked, grinning

"Adam Green," Madeline said rolling her eyes. "I was _supposed _to be going with James Clark, but he has glandular fever. It was last minute."

"I'm sure it'll be fun."

There was a sudden cry of "Freedom!" and they all turned to the door, watching bemusedly as Lane ran to the table to join them. She looked around them wide-eyed.

"I'm free," she said, almost as if she didn't quite believe it.

"Lane, does your mom know you're here, or is this a prison break? Should we expect the police at any moment?" Tristan asked.

"No, Mama knows I'm here. She also knows that I'm going to the Chilton dance in two weeks and that I'm dating a potential Korean doctor…and, so far, she hasn't mentioned wedding bells."

"That's great, Lane!" Rory said, leaning over to hug her friend.

"Oh, food!" Lane started to steal food from Rory's plate and, in turn, Rory stole some from Tristan. When Tristan looked over at Madeline, however, the girl shook her head.

"Don't even think about it," she said with a smile.

"I guess I'm going to order more food then," he said, shaking his head and heading for the counter.

"Hey Madeline," Lane said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. It's nice to talk to you without Tristan standing guard."

"It _is_ nice, isn't it?" Lane said gleefully. "I'm free. Don't worry, I met Tristan that way, too."

Madeline frowned. "You mean you didn't meet Tristan last year?"

"What?" Lane furrowed her brow.

Rory frowned. "That's right, you already saw Tristan. You _already_ knew what he looked like."

"When did I meet Tristan before the day he sold his soul to my mother?"

"At Madeline's party. Remember?" Rory said and Madeline nodded. "He had a huge fight with Summer in the middle of the room."

"Oh, yeah." Lane nodded. "You know, all I really remember from that night is Henry."

"That's so cute I think I might gag," Rory said sighing.

"Yes, just don't tell my mother it's cute, or there _will _be wedding bells."

"Noted."

Madeline frowned and Lane and Rory followed her gaze. "Rory, I think you might want to go save Tristan."

"Yeah," Rory said sighing. "Wish me luck."

Taking a deep breath, Rory stood up and headed to the counter, all the time trying to figure out what on earth she was going to say to Dean. It would be the first time she'd really spoken to him since that night and she had no idea what she was going to do.

xxxxx

**End of Part Thirteen: Thunderbolts and Lightning**

xxxxx

Wow, okay, so I got this written in one morning, aren't you proud? This part was much easier to write now that I'm back in the swing of things. I hope you enjoy and I hope there was enough Tristan to make up for his absence in the previous chapter.

Thank you also to starburst5509 who left an honest review regarding the length of time it has taken Rory to break up with Dean. As much as it pains me to admit it (for I am, of course, all knowing and always correct! ;p ), you're right. The main reason I didn't have it happen in the previous chapter was that it was written from Lorelai's POV and this was something that had to be done by Rory and read from her POV. I appreciate that you mentioned it and yet have still enjoyed the fic so far.

Feel free to leave a wee review ;)


	14. Part of Your World

**Author Note**:Okay, so it's been a while, eh? I want to apologise, because I've actually had about 75% of this chapter written since I posted the last one, I just _could not_ get the rest to flow. I've spent the last week or two reading Gilmore Girls fic again and trying to get myself back into the genre. I had so much more I wanted to write into the end of this chapter, but it would've taken up about twice as much space and taken even longer to get posted, so I just decided to post this – it ended in a good place and I can pick up easily enough from another point of view in the next chapter.

I want to thank you all so very much for your reviews; I know I haven't responded to most of you and I'm sorry for that. I appreciate so much that you've taken the time to review and encourage me to write more. I'm hoping to keep this going now that I've started, because I've so much more to get in before this fic reaches its conclusion and I am determined to finish it.

I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Part Fourteen: Part of Your World **

* * *

Tristan took a deep breath and tried to ignore the boy glaring at him. Which was, understandably, hard to do, given that they were standing almost nose to nose – or, well, nose to neck – and Dean really was a tall freak of nature.

"I'm not going to fight with you," Tristan said, resisting the urge to smirk. This time he was the one who had Rory and, yeah, he'd been biding his time before making his move, but as far as he was concerned he was the winner in this scenario and he wasn't giving up his moral high ground either. Also, he had a feeling that Rory would kick his ass.

"Funny. That's funny. Do they pay you to do that as well as the accounts at your fancy school?"

"You mean the same fancy school Rory goes to."

"Rory's better than the rest of you."

"Wow," Tristan said, finally letting the smirk show. "And you think _I'm_ bigoted."

"If the tie fits."

"Hey, Dean!"

The both jerked at the sound of Rory's faux cheerful voice. She glanced at Tristan pointedly and he rolled his eyes and headed back to the table. He sat down, leaning back in his chair, as Madeline and Lane watched the scene that was unfolding, glancing at him every few seconds to see his reaction. He could tell that Rory and Dean were attempting to be quiet and doubted he could hear them. It was a strain, but he wasn't about to miss out on this. He had to know if Rory was really over Dean, or if he was just fooling himself.

"Are you...with him?" Dean asked and Tristan's shoulders stiffened.

"No."

"Why not?"

Tristan was pretty sure that he looked as shocked as Madeline and Lane and, not really caring what it looked like, he turned around to watch.

"I...what?" Rory stuttered.

Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I pretty much hate the guy, but I don't hate you. I tried that and, well, you're a very hard person to hate, did you know that?"

"It's a special quality I have."

"Well, it's very annoying."

"Noted."

Dean laughed softly and Tristan wanted to hit the guy, because it sure sounded like they were flirting to him.

"Look, I don't hate you and...yeah, I'd like us to be friends. Not best friends or anything, because that would be..."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, definitely weird. But friends."

"I'd like that."

"Good. And...well, _as_ a friend," Dean's voice was getting quieter and, although Tristan couldn't see Rory because of the _giant_ in his way, he could tell he was definitely not meant to hear this. So he leaned closer. "-can't believe I'm about to say this. As a friend, don't _not_ date him because of me...okay? You like him. I can see that you like him and you stepping around the issue every time I'm near you is actually worse, because you're making it _more_ obvious that I'm the reason you're not happy."

"Dean, no! I never meant-"

"I know, Rory, I'm not saying you're doing it on purpose and, God, if I see you actually kissing him I might hit something, but...just..." He let out a frustrated breath. "Just be happy, Rory."

"Is it still too soon to be friends?" she asked, and Tristan realised how hard it must be for Dean to talk to her. He certainly couldn't do it.

He turned around in his chair, a frown on his face. He wasn't sure what he was meant to do with this information. He didn't want to respect Dean any more than he wanted to like him.

He heard Dean sigh again. "No. I want to be friends. Can we just..._not_ talk about _him_."

"Him who?" There was a pause and Tristan tried not to feel hurt at the flippant way she'd just dismissed him. "Okay, well...eh, Lane, Madline and...the invisible man are waiting for me. I should go."

"Okay."

Tristan glanced back, watching as Rory gave Dean an uncomfortable wave, before turning away, well aware that a few weeks ago she would have been kissing him goodbye.

"And, Rory?" Dean said, glancing briefly at Tristan.

"Yeah."

"It was good to talk to you again."

"Yeah." She smiled. "It was good talking to you, too, Dean. I've missed you."

"Yeah, me too."

She was grinning when she turned and walked towards them and it looked like her heart was a lot lighter than it had been that morning. As she approached, however, Tristan felt his jaw lock, knowing he must look decidedly angry. Which was good, because he was.

Madeline, however, seemed oblivious. "You're talking again?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah." Rory grinned, and Tristan could tell she was trying to keep the same look on her face when she glanced at him. "He's accepted that I don't want anything more and we're going to try to be friends."

"Friends?" he asked sceptically.

"It is possible, you know," she said, trying to keep her voice light.

"He still wants to date you."

Rory nodded. "I think he still thinks he does, but I think if he thought about it then he'd realise that he didn't really think that."

"That's a lot of thinking," Madeline said with a smile.

"More than I'd give him credit for."

"Tristan," Rory said, frowning and he sighed. He'd heard it all and, deep down, he knew that Rory wasn't trying to ignore him, or make out that he meant nothing to her. She dealt with things differently; couldn't stand to have people she cared about angry at her. He guessed he could cut her some slack for the time being. He had a plan after all.

"Do I have to be nice to him?"

"Civil."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I can handle that if he can. And you..." he looked right at her, pausing, just staring at her until she took a deep breath. "You're definitely not getting back together?" he asked softly.

"Definitely not," she replied quietly, her lips quirking briefly into a smile.

Tristan nodded, a small grin on his face. "Okay, then."

"Okay, so I am confused about one thing; did I miss something?" Madeline asked, frowning. "Because I thought _you two_ were dating."

There was an awkward silence and finally Tristan smirked. "Hear that, Mary, everyone knows you want me."

"Ah, back to delusions of grandeur, I see."

"I think you're just denying yourself what you really want."

"Yes," Rory said, rolling her eyes. "That's exactly it, Tristan. I want you, I need you, oh, baby, baby."

"Oh!" Madeline grinned. "I love that movie."

"Me, too. I don't know why," Rory said with a smile. "I just do."

"Yeah," Lane agreed.

She began to grin wickedly at the confusion on Tristan's face, she turned to the others and Tristan saw that they were all clearly thinking the same thing. And he began to fear for his life.

* * *

"Oh, my God, I want those two hours of my life back," Tristan said with a groan. "Next time we want to watch someone murder a Shakespeare classic, can we at least watch the Romeo and Juliet with all the acid trips?"

"You like that film," Rory said, swiping at his head. She was curled up on the couch behind him, next to Madeline, whilst Tristan and Lane were sprawled on the cushions on the floor.

"So the point of this evening _was_ to torture me with films I wouldn't enjoy?" he asked. "Just so we're clear."

"Nope," Lane said with a grin. "That was just an added bonus."

"Heath Ledger is so dreamy," Madeline said with a sigh.

"He is." Rory nodded her agreement and Lane smiled hers. "Besides, you enjoyed that."

"Did not," Tristan said, despite having actually (sort of) liked the film – although he would never admit it. He leaned his head back on the couch by Rory's legs and looked up at her with a grin. He heard her breath catch a little and his smile widened. He was continually impressed with his ability to _not_ act on any of the signs he'd been receiving recently.

Oh, yes, Rory Gilmore wanted him. It was just a matter of waiting for the opportune moment.

"So, can we watch something manly now so I can reclaim my manhood?" he asked and Rory rolled her eyes.

"You know, you seem very preoccupied with reasserting your manhood, Tristan," Rory said, leaning over him, and he had to resist the urge to just clamp his hand behind her neck and close the gap between them. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

"You're beautiful," he said, still smiling. He knew exactly what he was doing; heard Madeline's gasp and Lane's small squeal, but it was Rory's wide eyes and the flush racing up her neck and across her face that held his attention. "It's a shame I'm in love with your mother," he finished.

It took a moment, but suddenly he was being hit by pillows from all directions. He laughed as they all trounced him into the carpet with their weapons of choice – he was pretty sure that various appendages were being straddled in the attempt – and he knew he was done for when all he really cared about was the smile he could see on Rory's face in the brief moment before the pillow she was brandishing smacked him in the face.

"Okay, that's it!" he cried. "Retribution."

There were various squeals as he reared up. He managed to catch Madeline's head before it hit the edge of the couch and moments later he was straddled over Rory tickling her as Lane jumped on his back. Madeline was leaning against the chair clutching at her sides, because she was laughing at them so hard.

"Okay, now I know Tristan found the way to heaven!"

Looking up at the doorway when Derek's voice, Tristan lost his concentration and suddenly found himself on his back again, being smothered by pillows.

"Uncle!" he gasped out on a laugh. "Uncle!"

"Dost thou yield?" Rory asked.

"For the moment?" Tristan said unsurely and he heard them discussing letting him loose. In that moment, he sat up suddenly – dislodging Lane from her perch on his chest – and threw Rory over his right shoulder. He ignored her squeals and the pounding on his back as he approached his friend.

"Glad you could join me," he said, smiling at the bemused look on his best friend's face. "But you didn't make it in time to save me from chick flick hell."

"Looks like you were in chick _heaven_ to me," Derek said with a smirk. He winked at Madeline and Lane. "Nice to see you, ladies." Ducking to look around Tristan's waist, he smiled at an upside-down-Rory, who was still cursing at his friend. "Hey, Rore, how you doin'?"

"Will you make him put me down," she demanded, more than asked.

Chuckling, he stood up, shaking his head at Tristan. "You gonna put the lady down so I can say hello properly?"

Tristan frowned. "Only if you promise it doesn't involve tongue."

"Tristan!"

He grinned at the indignation coming from behind him. "What? You've been staring at my ass for the last few minutes; doesn't that deserve a little loyalty?"

"I have _not_ been staring at your ass!"

There was a chuckle from the doorway. "I'm glad to hear it."

Tristan grinned. "Hey Max. Don't mind us, just taking care of a few things."

"Perhaps you could take it outside, or at least ensure the flying limbs steer clear of the breakables?"

Tristan glanced to his right to see Rory's flailing legs coming precariously close to a lamp he suspected belonged to his English teacher. He nodded and went to put Rory down, stopping only when Derek began to gesticulate wildly.

"Dude, wait until I'm out of range before you set her loose on you!" He scurried over to join Madeline and Lane on the couch, perching between them and leaning over the back to watch the show.

Tristan noted that Max was still standing in the entrance to the living room, leaning against the entryway. He grinned and prepared to set loose Hurricane Rory.

The moment her feet hit the ground and her limbs were no longer trapped, she began hitting him. He was still bent over and trying very hard not to fall down laughing. Instead he, somehow, managed to catch her wrists and stand up straight, pinning her arms to his chest between them.

"You fight mean," she said, glaring at him, but he could tell she was trying not to smile. He could also tell that she was trying hard not to notice how close they were standing.

"You don't fight fair, I've got to even the odds somehow."

"I fight fair!"

"Hah!"

Rory grinned. "Hah? Hah is your only comeback?"

"What can I say, Gilmore, you wear me out."

Rather than resorting to her usual method of backing away from him, she surprised him by pressing right up against him and smiling.

"Wouldn't you like to know if I could?" she said so softly that he doubted anyone else could hear. Which, he supposed, was entirely her plan.

A grin spread across his face and he released her hands, stepping away. He could see that she was suddenly reminded of their audience by the way she flushed and looked away from him.

Instead of saying anything further to Tristan, she walked over to the couch and leaned over the back, pulling Derek into a welcoming hug.

"Now I know I'm in heaven," his friend said, smirking at Tristan over Rory's shoulder. "Gilmore, will you marry me?"

"Will you buy me something shiny?" she asked, not expecting it when Tristan swept her up from behind and pulled her off the floor and back against his chest.

"You'll have to fight me for her," he said, placing her aside and forcing himself, once again, to ignore her reaction to him.

As he and Derek got themselves into a faux duel, he noted Max laughing and shaking his head as he headed into the kitchen. Madeline and Lane had gathered some junk food and started heckling them in equal measures, but Rory… Rory was watching him with the tiniest of smiles on her face, one he bet she didn't even know was there.

Oh, yeah, she totally wanted him.

* * *

"Hey, Dugrey!"

Tristan fought the urge to groan and close his eyes. Instead he pasted a kind-of-welcoming smile on his face and turned to face the two boys trying to catch up to him.

"Duncan. Bowman." He nodded to them, but didn't offer up any further conversation.

His father had taken him aside at the start of the summer and 'urged' him to befriend the two buffoons, because he would be doing business with their fathers. Tristan had no particular desire to be in their presence, let alone be their friends, and had thus far been able to avoid.

"Busy this weekend?" Bowman asked, glaring at the girl who had the gall to try and squeeze past him to get to class.

"Yep."

Duncan frowned. "Busy how?"

"Busy in a way that doesn't involve taking other people along," he said, hoping they'd take it as innuendo to him having a date. In truth, he, Rory and Madeline were planning to work on their piece for next week and then Lane, Derek, Henry, and the guys were joining them all for a film festival under the stars, Gilmore Style. He was determined that this weekend would be special and, even if no one else knew or cared, the important thing was that he did.

And he had no intention of inviting Dumb and Dumber to join in on the festivities.

"Oh, right, gotcha," Bowman said with a snicker worthy of a six year old. Duncan looked a little confused, but played along.

"Tristan, you're going to be late for class."

"Paris! Hi, yes, I know, I'm sorry. Here let me take your books. Gotta go, guys." Ignoring the girl's confusion, he grabbed her French books and ushered her along the hallway. "Thank you," he said, relieved, when they were out of earshot.

"I take it your meeting with the town idiots wasn't planned."

"More at my father's urging."

"And you've run out of ways to avoid them," Paris concluded. They'd known each other long enough for her to know how his father worked.

"Exactly. As I said, thank you."

"Great, well, as pleasant as this little interlude has been, we need to get to French class."

"That we do, lead the way, Miss Geller."

Paris gave him a little smile that had his heart plummeting, as he handed her books back. He really didn't need for her to get her hopes up again, but it had been nice to talk with her. Sighing, he followed her into the classroom and hoped to God things weren't about to get even more complicated.

* * *

"Oh my God," Anna said, sliding in next to him and stealing a piece of his chocolate. "Tell me your girlfriend isn't this anal about all her schoolwork."

Tristan grinned, threw an arm around the girl and shook his head. "Rory Gilmore will always be anal about school work." He squeezed her shoulders. "And you're perfectly aware that she's not my girlfriend."

"Yet," Anna said with a shrewd grin.

Rather than saying anything, Tristan merely shrugged and smirked at her. A moment later Rory dropped into the bench opposite them and placed her lunch tray down, leaning over to steal a piece of his chocolate. Tristan had a second bar in his bag – he'd learned the hard way.

"So, how's the Physics project going?" he asked her, glancing at Anna, who was her lab partner, knowing that the girl's rant had been in relation to said project.

"Really well," Rory said, beaming at him. "I think we're almost done organising things."

"Thank _God_!" Anna cried and, when Tristan laughed, Rory frowned at them.

"I get the distinct impression that I've missed something."

"Whatever gives you that idea, Lorelai?" Anna asked sweetly and Rory rolled her eyes. Anna had taken to using Rory's full name for reasons that no one could really explain. Tristan didn't think Rory minded, in fact, he thought she quite liked it. "But seriously, if I have to give up another lunch hour, I will kill you in your sleep."

"Noted."

"I'm so glad." Sighing, Anna reached out to steal some of Tristan's chocolate and he glared at her. "What? You don't say anything to Lor, but I can't even have one piece?" She didn't give Tristan time to answer and instead turned to the girl Tristan hadn't even noticed approaching. "Vienna, I'd say it's nice to see you, but it never is. What do you want?"

"My name is _Paris_."

"Oh, Vienna, how you like to joke."

"My _name_ is _Paris_."

"What do you want, Paris?" Rory interrupted before the girls could get into their usual argument. Tristan knew that she sometimes thought Anna was too mean to Paris and he didn't exactly disagree, but he knew that Paris always gave as good as she got.

"There's a meeting for the _Franklin_ after school. Don't be late."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm telling you now. Don't be late," she reiterated and, after throwing Tristan a cautious smile, stalked away.

"Oh, Tristan, what did you do?" Anna asked, smacking him in the chest.

"Ouch! I didn't do anything."

"That was not nothing," Rory said, shaking her head. "She gave you Ariel-eyes."

"Ariel eyes?"

"Yes, you know, big, innocent, 'I'm in love with you, when will you love me, too' eyes. She thinks you're her Eric."

"You are really weird, Lorelai Gilmore," Anna said, looking at Rory like she was a little crazy.

"Thank you!" Tristan cried.

"Oh, she's also completely right."

He groaned and dropped his head onto the desk. "I didn't do it on _purpose_." He took a deep breath, freezing when he felt fingers running through his hair. Somehow, he didn't think it was Anna.

"Tris, what did you do?" Rory asked and he relaxed as she continued to trail her fingers through his hair

"I just spoke to her," he mumbled.

"Tristan!" Anna hit him again.

"Ouch, okay! This is not my fault!" He sat up, instantly wishing he hadn't when Rory's hand withdrew.

"What's not your fault?" Derek asked as he and Madeline joined the table, followed a few moments later, by everyone else.

"Paris gave him Ariel Eyes," Rory said and Derek groaned.

"Wait, you get that reference?" Anna enquired as she leaned against Dave, who had sat next to her.

"I don't _need_ to get the reference," Derek clarified. "Paris has two settings with Tristan; hate and infatuation. That didn't sound like hate. Seriously, man, what d'you do?"

"I just talked to her, I didn't-"

"Eh," Dave said, shaking his head, as Graeme made the noise of a buzzer sounding.

"Wrong answer," Colin confirmed.

"See, that was your first mistake, Dugrey," Brian said, leaning back in his chair and throwing one arm around Rory and the other around Madeline. "Take me for example; I know how to pick the right girls. How _you_ doin'?" he asked Rory and Madeline in turn. Both girls laughed and shoved at him playfully and, whilst Tristan knew _he_ was glaring at his friend, he wondered if Derek realised he was doing the same thing. It was an interesting thought for later.

"Fine, oh wise one," Tristan said, mockingly. "Tell me: how do I get Paris Gellar to take a hint without going psycho?"

"_Without_ going psycho?" Colin asked, snorting.

Brian smirked. "Dude, I never said you could, just pointed out that _I_ would never get myself _into_ such a situation."

"I hate you."

"Back at you, man."

"Aw, look," Rory said, placing her hand on her heart. "Guy bonding."

"I prefer guy bond_age_," Madeline said with a grin, causing the guys to stop the protests Rory's comment had started. "What?" she asked innocently.

Brian grinned at her. "Will you marry me?"

While Madeline laughed, Tristan took a moment to glance at Derek and couldn't help but laugh a little himself. Definitely an interesting thought for later.

* * *

Tristan sighed as he closed his locker. It was the end of the day and he was very much looking forward to going home. Well, that wasn't exactly true, he was looking forward to getting away from home for yet another weekend, but in order for that to happen, he had to spend the evening in the company of his family and the morning with his little sister. He didn't mind the latter, but he could do without the evening's flagellation.

He sometimes wondered if Rory realised just how lucky she was to have Lorelai as her mother. He thought she did, to a certain extent, and he knew that she appreciated having Max in her life as a father figure, but he didn't think she _got_ just how much her mother had saved her when she'd taken her out of society and built a life with her, made a _home_ for her.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and reminded himself that he only had to get through one dinner. His parents were back for only a short period of time before they were planning to head off again on business and he _was_ at least looking forward to seeing his grandfather, if nothing else. And there was always Ellie to brighten up the mandatory dinner; she had the power to make even their father smile.

"Well, hello sailor."

He turned around, slightly startled to find himself face to face with Summer. He took a step back and found himself backed up against his locker; it was probably the first time in his life he'd found himself in that situation and _not_ been happy about it.

"Summer," he said, edging slightly to his left in a vain attempt to put some distance between them.

"Long time, no see," she said sweetly and he frowned.

"Well, you dumped me."

"Tristan-"

"In the middle of a party," he continued.

"I don't remember."

"In front of the entire _school_."

"Little details, Tristan. I mean, every couple has their ups and downs, right?" she asked coyly and he wondered that he had really ever found her attractive. Sure, her dumping him had bruised his ego, but he was pretty sure that was about it.

"We're not a couple, Summer," he clarified and removed the hands that were snaking around his neck. "We haven't been for quite some time and we never will be again."

"Because of _her_?"

"No, because of you. And because I'm just really not interested." He leaned closer to her, looking for all intents and purposes as if he might kiss her and probably making her think he didn't mean what he was saying. "At all." He pushed her away and leaned down to pick up his bag.

He was feeling pretty smug with himself when he turned around and almost fell over Rory. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to explain when she just smiled and shook her head.

"You couldn't just tell her to get lost like a normal guy?"

"Mary," he said, relief flooding through him and making him grin at her. "I'm anything but a normal guy."

"Oh, that I know," she said, not shrugging off the arm he threw around her as he steered them away from the scene he'd caused.

"I'm an _extraordinary_ guy."

"Oh, boy, there goes that ego again."

"It's not an ego, it's-"

"A life form all on it's own?"

"Very funny."

"I try."

As they rounded the corner, they all but walked right into Paris, Louise and Madeline. Paris looked to be in a hell of a mood and Tristan noted the way her eyes hardened even further when she spotted his arm around Rory. Well, hopefully that was one problem solved.

"Nice one, Gilmore. Do tell your mother thanks a lot, won't you?"

Rory frowned. "Did you take your medication this morning, Paris?"

"Oh, yes, please joke about the fact that your mother's life choices are ruining our education."

"Paris! What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know," she sneered.

Rory glanced at Madeline and frowned, clearly taking a moment to make out that her friend was mouthing the words 'Mr. Medina' at her. Tristan winced and glanced at Rory, who was clearly resisting the urge to groan.

"You mean Mr. Medina changing classes?"

"Gee, whatever gave you _that_ idea, Gilmore.

Tristan's eyes widened when Rory all but growled. "Look, Paris, it's not like I want this, either. And neither does he. Maybe if _other people's_ parents hadn't interfered he never would've had to change in the first place. So instead of blaming me, or my mum, or my dad, maybe you could think about placing the blame where it belongs. I'll see you at the meeting. Come on, Tristan."

Tristan didn't even bother to glance at the people who had stopped to watch the scene unfold and followed. Whilst Gilmore girls might have a rule about not running, Rory was moving pretty damn fast and he had to jog to catch up to her.

"God, where does she get _off_?" she cried, making her way outside. "I mean, it's not like it was his _choice_!"

"I know that."

Rory took a deep breath and turned to look up at him. "Is it really our fault? Mine and Mum's?"

"Of course it's not and you know that."

"I know that, I _do _know that, I just…I wish he could keep teaching us. He's my favourite teacher and I know he's one of yours, too, and I just wish…"

"I know," he said, watching her shoulders slump. "Come here." Without thinking about it, he pulled her into his arms, a smile tugging at his lips when she walked into his embrace without resisting and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Look," he said into her hair. "It's not your fault and it's not Lorelai's fault and it is not Max's fault. You knew this was going to happen when everyone found out."

"I don't have to like it."

"No, you don't, but you do have to live with it. And, hey, that was one hell of a good way to live with it. Did I ever tell you how sexy you look when you get mad?"

"Tristan!" She pulled away, laughing and hitting him, but he didn't let her step out of his embrace.

"You know you want me," he said and he couldn't help but notice her reaction to his not-quite teasing tone. She swayed slightly towards him and he smiled. "Don't you have a meeting to get to?" he asked abruptly, stepping away.

"I…what?"

"A meeting? You know, the _Franklin_? Because if you think Paris is mad _now_, just try being late to her precious meeting."

"Right. Of course. Stupid me. That meeting. Right." She nodded. "Gotta go."

Tristan prided himself on the fact that he was able to wait until she was out of earshot before he started to laugh. He had her exactly where he wanted her. Now it was her turn to chase him.

* * *

Tristan pulled into the Gilmore driveway and cut the engine before just letting his head drop onto the steering wheel. He'd survived dinner the previous evening thanks to his grandfather and Ellie and he'd spend a good few hours with his sister early that morning, but he had known it was too good to be true that his parents had managed to be civil during the meal and his brother had been noticeably absent for the first time. He really should have been expecting the double team right before he left the house.

'_Your grades just aren't good enough, son.'_

'_Whatever happened to that nice girl you were seeing, dear?'_

'_My partners tell me you haven't been speaking to their sons, Tristan, I thought we had an agreement.'_

'_You really do need to think about finding a suitable girlfriend, dear, you know you'll have to start making the rounds at parties this year and it really does not reflect well on us._

'_At this rate, you'll never be good enough to uphold the family name. You have responsibilities, son. You disappoint me.'_

"Nothing new there, dad," he muttered to himself. It hadn't been the worst conversation he'd had with his parents, but he wondered if that was because he was so used to it that he tuned most of it out now. Sometimes, he wondered if he'd ever be good enough.

He jumped suddenly as someone tapped on the window and blinked at the worried face he could see through the glass. He briefly wondered if he'd ever seen that kind of concern on his own parents' faces and brushed the thought away instantly, already knowing the answer.

He unlocked his seatbelt and got out of the car, trying to put a smile on his face.

"That's rather a pitiful attempt at looking fine," Max said, almost apologetically. "I take it your dinner was as pleasant as you were expecting."

"Dinner was actually okay," he said, no longer even finding it remotely strange to be on such good terms with his English teacher. "This morning's rendition of 'Tristan, the disappointment' wasn't too great."

Max winced. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." Tristan shook his head and turned to him, frowning. "What are you doing out here?"

"Ah, I have been ordered to take you for coffee and not let you into the house for another hour."

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, don't look at me, I just follow the orders."

Tristan chuckled. "Yeah, it's hard not to."

"Those Gilmore girls are a breed until themselves."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Tristan said, more to himself than to Max. "So, coffee?"

"You're not even going to ask?"

He looked back at the house, tried to think about what they might be doing, and then shook his head. "No. I think I'll let them have their surprise."

He wasn't sure what they were up to, but something told him he might just get that special weekend after all and, even if he was getting his hopes up over nothing, he knew that there were at least three people in this town who actually gave a damn about him.

For the first time in his life, he knew that was enough.

* * *

**End of Part Fourteen: Part of Your World**

* * *

Hopefully, it won't take another two and a half years to update next time! I'm aiming more for a few weeks max!


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